A Heart's Will: Sequel to It Won't End Happily
by Mistress-Lady-Lin
Summary: This is just a continuation of the story: It Won't End Happily. I only put it on here because my friends want to find it. So, that is about it. If you want to read it, fine. If not, that's okay. It isn't great, but if my friends want it they get it. OC
1. Chapter 1

**A Heart's Will: An InuYasha Sequel to It Won't End Happily**

The death of an innocent girl and the evil plot that will never cease.

Priest Hideyoshi P.O.V

While rummaging through the various herbs and medicinal concoctions to assist my cliental, a young man, around the age of twenty or so, entered my back room. He looked as if he were of a high social standing, sleek, black hair pulled tightly into a knot at the top of his head. His clothes led me to believe that he was a lord of some sort, elaborately embroidered haori and perfectly pleated hakama pants. But what really caught me about this particular man was his perfect and calm stature, not an air of anxiety reached his brown eyes, yet he smelled distinctly of blood. Dried blood.

"Is there something you need of me, sir?" I asked, moving stealthily around the cluttered mess. He waited patiently, a slight scowl stretched across his mouth as I continued to maneuver through the maze I had created.

"Yes," he said, paying more attention to the side wall then me. He positioned his hands behind his back, turning his gaze back to me once I arrived to his location. "There has been a terrible accident and a young girl was attacked."

"That truly is horrendous news," I said, placing my finger to my lips as the young Lord beseeched me again.

"Yes, and that is why I implore you, Priest Hideyoshi. I require your assistance to help me save this girl. She is in bad shape."

"Of course!" I declared, raising a hand to the air and balling it into a fist. "Direct me towards her. I'll do what I can."

"I have set her in the front room, but I warn you that there have been complications." He stretched his arm out before him, pulling back the curtain that separated this room from the next. He gave me a small smile as I was ambushed by a malodor, pungent and creeping up my nostrils.

There lay in front of me a form, completely covered by a white cloth that had been stained beyond recovery by blood. I analyzed the figure, calling upon my spiritual powers to sense what the 'complications' were. This was an odd case, though. I had never experienced such a sensation before. Not an inkling of life came from the still and rigid figure underneath the gauze. A shiver crawled up my spine when I understood the undisputed truth. This 'girl' the Lord had placed before me was dead. There was nothing that I could do, but inform him that it was hopeless to resurrect her. I had never fully mastered that, myself. For that trade was reserved for the darkest of spiritual guides. I would have no part in attempting such an act.

I turned to his sullen face, staring not at my reaction, but the singular woman, expecting her to sit up and converse with him. "I regret to inform you that this woman has long passed into the netherworld. There is no bringing her back," I said, trying to console the seemingly inconsolable confidence of this particular Lord.

"Yes," he said again, as if he knew my thought process before I divulged him further. "I am quite aware that she has passed to the world next, but I came here for a miracle. You see, I am willing to pay a hefty sum to the Priest that will resurrect her."

"I'm sure you can and will, but I will not sink so low as to call up the Black Arts to help a single and, don't take this the wrong way, insignificant girl." I offered him my sincerest apologies, awaiting him to keep calm as he had been, but his face twisted into that of pure infuriation.

"You will do as I say," he hissed, holding on to my sleeve and directed me towards the edge of the table. He pulled at the corner of the gauze sheet, tearing it off her form as I beheld her corpse for the first time. Dingy hair of brown tracing the end of the table as I scanned her face, lingering on the dull and faded green eyes that would have been radiant as a gem if it weren't for death's hold. He forced my face to look at her, still overpowering me in my old age. "One girl, yet clearly not as insignificant as you first surmised, my old man!" he roared, spinning me about to look at him, his eyes alive with a fiery temper. "Do we have a deal, then?"

"I will not be ordered by such..." then I sensed his aura, seeping through the protective carcass of the Lord that was standing before me. A demon had duped me into thinking I was helping a fellow human! "DEMON!" I cried, clasping his hand away from my arm.

"Very perceptive of you, priest! Now, as a holy man, I would assume that you are responsible for the village's many needs concerning health and protection?" he asked, clearly immune to my powers from beneath the stolen skin. "Am I correct?"

"What concern is it to you?"

"For this one girl," he stressed the word 'one' while lifting me off the ground, "you would compromise the surrounding village? Keep this in mind, old man. If anything were to happen to this ONE girl, then not only will this village be rubble, but the life of your fellows will cease to exist." He laughed a bit to himself and set me to my feet, towering over me as if he had powers I was not aware of.

I thought this through thoroughly. To help a demon would be going back on all I knew, but to not would certainly spell disaster for my village. The people that depended on me to keep away the evil spirits would fall to such malice. Could I risk the chance of this occurrence for the seemingly harmless request the demon had placed before me?

"It will not be an easy task," I confessed, glancing over the peaceful body of the girl. "Are you aware that disturbing a resting soul could be dangerous? Do you not feel remorse for what you ask?"

He gave me an emotionless shrug, walking over to the side of the girl he was willing to go to such lengths to revive. I watched him lower his head, looking as if he were going to press his lips to her cheek, but he started to lightly chuckle in her ear. I moved back, groping the wall for a solution to this heathen.

"Death is no escape from me, Lin-dear," he whispered, before he glowered over his shoulder at me as if suspecting my betrayal. "By the end of the week or you'll lament the day you deceived me." With that I fell unconscious only to wake up several hours later. The Demon Lord had disappeared and quickly recalling his words began preparing the girl for her awakening.

Sesshomaru's P.O.V

Where had he gone? Two days after the woods and the trail to Naraku had completely disappeared! Tensaiga was still restless, leading me towards another location, but there was no scent of Naraku there. No information that there had been a negative energy. I had sent Kumiko and Kiyoshi out to listen for any rumors about a demon of incomparable power, not that of mine.

The came walking up to me, heads hung low which could only mean that Naraku was still eluding me as carefully as he had before.

"Lord Sesshomaru," Kiyoshi said, bowing to me gracefully as Kumiko mirrored her brother. "There is not sign of the man that brutally slaughtered our Lady, but make no mistake! We will find him! He will not get away with what he did!" Kiyoshi firmly placed his foot forward, baring his teeth and tiny fangs in fury.

"There is not doubt, Kiyoshi. Continue to scour the forest for any indication of Naraku's whereabouts." Kiyoshi moved with cunning agility from whence he came, gliding effortlessly through the maze of trees. "Kumiko!" I directed as the little demon girl edged to my side. She looked up with me, eyes empty of emotion. She was no longer cheerful, no longer eccentric as she had once been. Her brother grew in independence as Kumiko shrank, doing as she was told. She had lost desire to do much of anything else.

"What do you ask of me, Milord?" she gave me a disdainful look from under her hair, oblivious that I could see her actions. She had blamed me for the death of Lin and chose now to show that she was merely there for Ji, fulfilling Lin's last wishes. She wanted her family together and Kumiko would see that Ji got just that.

"Look after Ji," I stated, directing her to where Jaken sat. He was leaning against a tree, glaring at the sleeping form of Ji as Rin napped next to him. His clear contempt emanated from him, but I was more preoccupied with the search for Naraku. He would reveal himself one of these days and once that happened, he would be mine. His life was in my hands and would only last as long as I could swing a sword. Seconds at the most.

Kumiko took her place, dismissing Jaken of his duty as he reunited with me at my side. "Lord Sesshomaru! I hardly see the worth in protecting this worthless infant. He is nothing but the whelp of the very Naraku you seek!"

I glared at Jaken from the corner of my eye, pushing passed him in the opposite direction from where Kiyoshi had exited. I had to find Naraku. The despicable excuse of a demon, the very one that had pierced her very heart with his caustic fluid, aiming to kill Rin. There was not land enough of this world to hide him from me. He would be found and, along with every dastardly plan, he would die slowly at my feet. He would suffer!

??? P.O.V

*Wake up.*

"Huh?"

*Do as I say...open your eyes*

4


	2. Chapter 2

Deep within the confines of purgatory, a soul waits restlessly. Torn from her other half and torn from the height of heaven, she is consumed with a darkness unfamiliar to her.

Lin's P.O.V

"Who are you?" I spoke as my voice seemingly echoed back to me with an answer.

*An old friend*

This thoroughly confused me. But didn't everything else in this strange place. I didn't see much except: Dark. A lot of dark. It was cold here and there weren't many people. In fact, I hadn't come in contact with any person the entire time I was here, wherever here was?

Did I mention I was confused?

"Well if you won't tell me who you are or what you are talking about then I'm just going to go," I said to the stranger with the same voice as my own. I turned in the darkness, peculiarly similar to the darkness of before. Where was the last person I met? I spun around again, thoroughly baffled as to where I was supposed to go now!

"I'm lost!" I cried, trying to remember the last place of light I had known. There were people in that light and they had been happy. I felt warm and at peace in that place until a few moments ago. Then the darkness took me and I've been bashing around the dim, sightless, cavernous thick in front of me. "Why is it so dark?"

*You are being called back to me*

"You? I don't even know you! Why would I go back to you?"

*Be patient, Lin. It will come back to you. You're memories are not far away*

"And what am I waiting for?" I said.

*Just think to the past. Before the darkness now. Think back to the world of land and sea. He still needs you, but not without me*

"So that makes you...me?" That didn't make much sense. I was nowhere, but I knew that there was something beyond this nothingness. Not to mention that I wasn't whole? But she said I was going back to another place I had been before, but I just couldn't remember. "I'm dead?" I whispered.

*Very good. Now open your eyes.*

"But I don't know where I am! Where were you for all this time? Surely..." but it was slowly seeping into my mind like lightning bolt brightening the ominous clouds of a rainy day. I remembered the place of light! It was earth, my home. I even recalled names of my past, last goodbyes and the anguish I had felt leaving all that was loved behind. "Pain?"

*I need you to open your eyes now. I cannot do it because I've been imprisoned yet again in this body! Our body! Open your eyes, Lin! DO IT NOW!!!*

"But..." I hesitated. "that makes you...the siren."

*Yes, Lin! And I we're going home*

Priest Hideyoshi P.O.V

The girl was indeed a stubborn one and my week was about up. I had been working day in and day out to get this girl to respond, but nothing would work. Her soul was confusing to me, not whole like I would have imagined. Was she not just a human girl? I had retrieved a partial soul from her in the beginning. It came without hesitation, inhabiting the very body in front of me. Yet, this portion did not stir the body, did not open her eyes, and was restlessly moving about in a horrible spite. I had never felt something so hateful in my life, but as I continued to call forth this young girls life, the negative energy of the former diminished -once the remaining half drifted leisurely to the body. Then, after lifting my spirits to finally feel a complete soul in her, the girl still had the audacity to carry on a lifeless existence. Not even an existence. Just death.

"How am I going to warn the village of the demon? He is sure to destroy everything now," I muttered to myself, concentration dwindling from resurrecting the girl as I dwelled on the eminent danger of my village. My job was to protect them. I had thought that perhaps I would ask the Holy Village for some back up Priestesses, but after their hardships with a giant centipede demon that had gotten through their attacks; I was left to fend for myself. I had to do everything to keep this village in one piece!

"Why won't you rise, girl?" I asked, touching the edges of her thick hair. I lowered my head, completely run dry of ideas to get her to live.

"Who are you?" a small voice squeaked next to me. My head shot up, looking into the bright, green and very much alive eyes of the girl. She blinked once or twice, placing her hand against her head as if she had a migraine and continued to stare at me with her questioning gaze. "Why are you next to me?"

I didn't think to answer her questions, though as I look back, I should have in the first place. I had saved my village! My word was complete and the innocent would not have to pay for my mistake or miscalculation. I placed my hand on her shoulder as she did not move to sit or stand, but remained motionless. The only words peering out from her eyes. Fully alive.

Lin's P.O.V

I woke as if from a long sleep. A drawn out nightmare that had been both incoherent and incomprehensible to me in my waking haze. Death was quick to depart my body, but the vivid feeling of the cold, clammy hands across my bare back, where all too real to quickly cast aside. I had been dead and that meant I was not supposed to be here. I glanced at the face of my reviver, a short and ancient priest wearing nothing but a simple robe to cover his shame. He gave me a wrinkled smile; tiny creases encased his eyes as he shook me in uncontrollable joy.

"You're alive! I made you live!" he repeated happily, attempting to coax me to a sitting position.

I sighed, turning my head back to stare up at the ceiling. *I probably should get back to business* I thought. Though I didn't know why he brought me back, I decided that I should thank him for the trouble he went to, but not before I knew the reason. I was needed by 'him' and whomever this 'him' was, it most likely did not mean a pleasant time for me. I sat up, letting the feeling of having limbs weigh me down yet again, but that was not the first shock I experienced.

As I opened my eyes wider to my surroundings, I noticed that I was entirely naked. I immediately turned my attention to the priest, still swallowed with delight to notice my distress.

"Excuse me, sir," I articulated, watching him turn proudly towards me. "Can you explain to me why I'm here? Why you brought me back? And why I'm naked?"

I covered up the best I could with my forearms and waited for a response.

"Oh!" he cried, pulling right out of his delirium to rush over, a simple robe in hand. "I couldn't have interferences with the returning souls, but... here!" He turned from me, averting his eyes as he passed me the white robe. I took it hurriedly, stuffing my arms through the holes until I was covered, wrapping it around my waist and holding it tight with my hand. I let my legs dangle off the edge of the table, preparing to walk when the priest came up with a suspicious gleam in his eyes.

"Is there something the matter," I asked, blushing a bit from having him intently look me in the face. I leaned back a bit when he became uncomfortably close to my face. *What are you looking for?*

"No." He let out a heavy breath, closing his eyes and adjusting a tiny vial on a table opposite mine. "You sure don't seem significant."

"Huh? Excuse me! I don't mean to be rude, but that is uncalled for! I didn't force you to resurrect me, you took that on yourself!" Without thinking I jumped from the table, trying to regain the attention of the priest as he continued to be preoccupied with pots of herbs and bottles of elixirs.

"I did not revive you for my own benefit; I did it to save my village. It was that Demon Lord that asked me to and then threatened me when my answer did not satisfy his needs," he said, turning to look up into my face, several inches shorter than me.

That brought only one name to my mind. Quicker than any memory that refused to surface, his blackened soul that sent me to my grave and his vile visage flashed in my mind. *Naraku*

"This 'Demon Lord'! Did he have long, wavy black hair? Kind of messy looking? Did he have red eyes? Pale skin?" I nearly overwhelmed the poor old man with my excessive questioning, but I remembered. I had to know more! He stepped back a few paces, shaking his head at the floor.

"Nope," he said simply and I made a face resembling someone who had completely jumped to the wrong conclusion. Who else could have taken me here? Who else had possession of my body?

"Really? I could have sworn Naraku had... well that doesn't matter," I resolved, moving closer to the priest, smiling warmly as I placed my hand on his shoulder as he did me. "I do, however, wish to thank you. Though I do not fully comprehend this turn, I want you to know that I appreciate everything that you have given me."

The priest gave me an odd look, eyes turned at the corners, peering up into mine with such sorrow I would have bet money that he was about to break down right in front of me. He moved a fidgeting hand up to his thinned hair, rubbing his brow vigorously before utterly spouting out nonsense. *What did I do?*

"I can't do this," he eventually breathed, addressing the ceiling more than me, but I knew he was still conversing with me. "Sit down, please."

He offered over the table I had just been sitting on and made sure I was securely seated before continuing. He paced back and forth, picking his words carefully. He would lift his head, look to me then turn away quickly muttering: "No...no...no."

"You see, I was selfish. I called up your resting soul to save my village, thinking that you were merely an insignificant little girl. No one should be unearthed in such a manner and I was weak as the holy man of this village to bend to a demon's desires," he said. So, it seems that in his moment of talking with me, he realized that I should have stayed dead. Though I understood this concept perfectly, it hurt that he would say that. Perhaps he didn't know how much I needed to do in order to rest in peace. I had thought wrongly before, for when I reached the netherworld, nothing was irenic. Nothing had set my soul to rest, knowing that Naraku still had the earth terribly unbalanced.

"That makes sense," I whispered, passing my hand over my arm over and over again.

"Don't get me wrong, milady," he spoke as if he knew me. "When I sent the negative energy in you to a dormant state, I had every belief that you were... an iniquitous entity, but... I can't hand you over to that demon. I sense nothing about you now... how could I be so foolish," he bowed to me in shame. "Please forgive me! Please forgive my weakness!"

I looked down on him, pitying him for his clear mistake. How could I judge him harshly? He was just someone stuck between what he loved and what he thought would protect that. I knew the feeling well, and could not castigate him for his actions. No matter how depraved they seemed.

Thus, the siren was suppressed but still a part of me.

"What is it that is going to happen?" I asked, climbing off the table and crouching down to his level. "Could I help?"

The eyes of the man shot up suddenly, a passion aflame within his irises. "No! There is nothing you can do. I am to be the only one to right this wrong, but... I will not let that demon come near you! You are free, my dear!" He darted behind his counter, disappearing amid the vials and pots above until, not seconds later, he reappeared, a balled up kimono in his hands. Not to mention a sword lying on top. "These were yours when that demon dropped you off. Take them and go! You don't have much time!"

He forced the articles and implement into my awkward arms, pushing me towards the large slide door. "But...but... I don't know where I am!"

"It won't matter at the end of this day! You need to leave at once! Take my horse, I won't be needing it!"

He gave one final shove, throwing me outside his workshop where the sun was beginning to set behind the horizon. *God! I remember this!* He appeared suddenly at my side, handing me the reins to his horse.

"No, sir. I couldn't take your horse," I said, declining his offer, but he just shook his head and forced my hand open, dropping the reins within.

"I must right a wrong. Run from here... if I save one life from my wrong doing, then it will be worth it. There can be nothing but evil in store if that demon were to get what he wanted." He grinned widely at me as I took the reins gratefully. I shared a kindred moment with him, warming my heart in his righteous act. Somehow I knew that he understood me to be on a quest. A quest to bring down the oppressive malice of one, Naraku.

"Thank you," I mumbled, mounting the horse with minimal trouble except that the robe I was wearing wanted to open and I had to awkwardly hold onto my kimono and sword. The priest moved his hand quickly from one side to the other.

"Run, child! Evil arrives at sundown!"

With those words I lead the horse westward, racing time and following the light as it tried to escape. I wouldn't let darkness take me again.

6


	3. Chapter 3

The sun dropped beyond the horizon line, drowning me in darkness as I pushed the horse to move faster across the deserted road. The rhythmic clank of the hooves along the dust strewn ground echoed throughout the dusk while I contemplated my next move. This was going to be difficult to explain to the others... How do you tell someone that you have been resurrected? Though still my body, I couldn't help but feel that I had become an outcast. Little dead girl going back to a life that had progressed without her. How pathetic.

I grasped tighter to the reins, thinking about how this would work. *Ji* I thought suddenly, imagining the tiny hands twisting in my hair. The fine, black hairs resembling that of his father. Yet, I tried not to think of that man. There was no use in getting my emotions swinging from love to hate in one fell swoop, but that did bring up a relative point.

Naraku was behind my reanimation, I just knew it. But how did he do it without being caught? And who was the man that brought me to the priest? The Demon Lord, as he was only known as. Did he have connections to Naraku? *Of course he does. There is no denying that Naraku devised this. I died in his arms!*

My heart raced faster, picturing that man as if I had only seen him yesterday, but I found that I was becoming less focused on the task set before me. I was supposed to be looking for Sesshomaru, for my darling baby Ji.

"I'm coming," I stated to the whipping wind gliding across my cheeks. I attempted to move the horse faster, nearly losing my kimono from my lap in the process, but, floating along the breeze, was that of a slow vocalization. The voice rose and fell, twisting in complicated scales to slip into a spirit-warming melody. This seemed merely to be the work of a woman with a beautiful voice, but the quality was somewhat baffling to me. A strange, ethereal song that gave no inkling as to what could make such a pure sound. Night's covering had fallen, shrouding the world with its veil and making it increasingly difficult for me to see. *Where was this voice coming from? Why does it call to me?*

Before I could comprehend what I was feeling, I yanked the reins of the slowing horse to a complete stop. Not bothering to tie it up, I left all my possessions behind, except for the sword that I drew to my side, and entered the woods, keeping my senses alert for any foul play that could occur.

*Why am I doing this? This could easily be a trap!* I thought, but I recalled the Priest's village and that I was expected there. A plan couldn't be devised and put into action so quickly, even if Naraku were the one in charge. Like many times before, I pushed past the various clawing twigs, remembering the night I had looked for the Priestess Kikyo. That was a long time ago, but was the day I had discovered my part in Naraku's distorted little plan.

The whimsical voice was growing in strength as I reached a destination wet with humidity and I heard the deafening sound of rushing water ahead. I picked my way cautiously through the brush, removing the obstacles of tree leaves and such from my path until I came upon a clearing, crescent in shape as the lush grass encased a lake, glistening by the moonlight. Just in front was that of a gushing waterfall, feeding into the lake as I saw the figure creating the unworldly song.

She was a woman, clearly well shaped as she stood in the lake, water lapping at her thighs while she sang to the grossing trees to the left. I tried to watch for something to come out to her, but nothing appeared and I was reluctantly drawn back to her silhouetted form from the moon's light. As my eyes adjusted, I could detect her long hair dancing down her back, but what really caught me was not that of her stance as she reached out to the blackness, but she was completely nude. Standing there in the skin she was born with. My hands instinctively clasped onto the robes opening, tightening the fabric until you couldn't see a hint of skin other than my hands and face. *What is she doing? Bathing?*

The bushes from where she gazed began to rustle when another figure, that of a young man, appeared in front of her. He walked dazedly towards her, almost as if he was drunk, but this was different. He held out his arms to the waiting woman, not bothering to remove his shoes as he strolled into her embrace. She pushed him slightly away, calling him to her with a string of lilting notes. She dunked down into the water, hair fanned out in the ripples while the young man followed. I immediately became alarmed. This was entirely inappropriate for me to watch, as I assumed that these two were merely lovers. But then what explained the power of such a fragile voice? What explained my senses telling me to come to this spot if it were simply a nighttime swim between a couple of people? There was something horrid going on as I could feel the rush of the song. The anticipation of every note.

I moved behind a tree, eyeing both the two as the woman edged closer to the waterfall, keeping herself covered by the water. The man, on the other hand, was crazed. He mirrored her every action, catching up to her as she swam backwards into the shore next to the showering falls. He pressed against her skin in the dimly lit clearing, caressing the woman's neck with his lips as she reciprocated his strokes. The man gave a distorted groan and I was about to leave, thoroughly disappointed in myself to be watching this act, but the groan turned into a loud heave for breath.

I turned quickly back, scanning the lake for the figures as I saw the woman drag the lifeless body of the man back to shore, placing her hands at the top of the man's forehead as she lifted her head to the sky. A wispy white vapor leisurely made its way to the figure of the woman, but I had seen enough. She was taking something vital to this man! Perhaps his very life!

I darted out of the brush, holding my hand out as the vapor, lighting both the captor's and victim's faces, disappeared in the body of the woman.

"What did you do?" I cried, falling to the man's body, tapping his face lightly to see if he would wake up. He didn't move, but lolled in my hold and I let his head fall to the grass. I glared up at the woman who did the same to me, but more nonchalantly than anything else. She shrugged her shoulders, hair falling to cover her breasts, and she turned to leave.

"Wait!" I shouted, more rage enveloping in my voice than previously. "Why did you do this?"

She stopped in her steps, but didn't look behind. "You may have this territory if that is what has upset you, sister. But I must warn you, he is the only one for miles."

She started moving back towards the woods, but I was even more baffled than before. I believed I had asked her why she killed the man, not what territory belonged to who.

"You didn't answer me!" It came out as harshly as before, but the woman glided into the forest without another word to help me out of my haze.

*Huh?* I thought, attempting to follow her into the woods as I abandoned the man by the lake. I drew the sword, the one that had previously belonged to a weak moth demon, and entered the thick, but had lost her. She seemingly had vanished, taken off like a bird or a bat, if the case was more suitable. *Well that's bunk.*

I returned to the road after a desperate and, in the end, fruitless search for the unholy air of the woman. I could only assume her to be a demon, but in the back of my mind, an idea struck me. *Had she been...a siren?* The moment that thought slipped in my mind, I pushed it out. I shook my head, wishing it away. And as I stood there dismally looking over the road that should have contained my horse, I heard voices coming closer. There was a girl and a man arguing.

"I told you that there was a noise coming from this direction!"

"Well, I didn't here anything!" the woman yelled.

"Just believe me!"

"How can I believe you when you run off to Kikyo every moment you get?!"

"Please stop fighting, you two. It is late and we should make camp." Another woman interrupted the fight with a soothing voice.

"I told you that I heard an unnatural voice! There have been deaths all over the land; this could lead us to Naraku!"

*InuYasha! Kagome! Sango! Miroku!* My mind screamed, drastically lightening my outlook.

"InuYasha!" I called, running to where the voices were heard. "Guys! Please wait!"

"Did you hear that?" InuYasha bellowed. "There is someone out there!"

Before I knew it, InuYasha had sprung up, crashing down right in front of me as I tried my best not to run into him. I lost my balance, falling over onto my back as InuYasha stared down at me in surprise, his golden eyes casting an odd light.

"Oh," he whispered.

"Is that all you can say," I smiled, taking InuYasha's hand as he offered it to me.

"InuYasha! Why did you nearly attack Lin?" Kagome bellowed from the side of the road.

"It was my fault, Kagome! It was dark and I heard you guys, so I thought I would call out to you."

"Does that mean Sesshomaru is around here?" InuYasha growled, cracking his knuckles with one movement.

"Oh! No!" I squeaked. "I'm actually kind of lost. I don't know where Sesshomaru or anyone else is."

Sango and Miroku joined their comrades, waving to me at Kagome's side once they realized that it was the real me. But InuYasha stilled looked at me with that same gaze. A mix of confusion with skepticism contained in his eyes. He ignored the questions from his friends and I even found myself staring intently back at InuYasha. He eyed me up and down, sniffing the air slightly only to cock his head to side.

"What is the matter with you, InuYasha?" Kagome said softly, placing her hand on his shoulder. "Why are you looking at Lin like that?"

"She looks different," he said. "Her skin... it looks paler. Her scent is muddled, but smells faintly of a..." he trailed off while I felt like I should shrink from his accusing eyes. What did I look like? What did he sense on me? Was I not the same? "...a corpse."

*A corpse?*

Naraku's P.O.V

Burning to the ground! The city was a waste if the main authority would dare defy my clear orders. There was no use for my disguise any longer and, ultimately, the defenseless Lord of which my body had absorbed now had been squandered. Yet, this left the issue of my siren. Lin was alive, fully restored to her previous vitality, but, by the scent of her body, she had left long before I had returned to this village. She would surely be alone in the night, completely at my mercy if I simply followed the aroma of death. But that scent would slowly be reduced as her life took over everyday. This meant that I hadn't much time to track her down this night.

Of course, I had planned for this. So, why not have her come to me.

I passed out the gates of the shrine, the bright blaze of flames licking the backdrop of the star-sewn night. "They should have heeded my warning."

5


	4. Chapter 4

"That's ridiculous, InuYasha," Kagome cried.

"I've never been mistaken! She smells like a corpse!"

I looked frantically from the many accusative faces that were now glaring back at me. Did they think, perchance, that I had hurt someone? That I had there scent on me? How could I tell them that I had recently been dead?

"I-I..." but I couldn't find the words to explain myself. All that would pass my lips was his name. "...Naraku."

"Hmm?" InuYasha swiftly towered over me, looking down on me with his luminous eyes. "What of Naraku?"

"He...he," I stuttered, suddenly fearing InuYasha's drastic change in mood. "He... took my life."

I widened my eyes, awaiting the inevitable shock. The scolding looks of horror or disapproval that I would even be up and moving around. They didn't say a word, though, yet their faces said enough. InuYasha, for the first time, was speechless, looking as if he were frightened of me. Kagome, thought subconsciously done, stepped back behind InuYasha while Sango and Miroku stared dumbfounded.

"Lin?" Sango spoke from Miroku's side. "How are you...Well, what I mean is, how...if Naraku killed you...how are you alive?"

"Well...the funny thing is..." I rubbed the back of my head, panicking a bit at the thought of retelling something I wished would remain in the back of my mind. I didn't even know exactly why I was sent to a priest or if Naraku had officially brought me there. "...he didn't mean to kill me."

"And he just brought you back! Just because you got in his way or whatever?" InuYasha bellowed, clearly more infuriated that he again didn't understand Naraku's motives. He clutched at his hair, pulling it down until his knuckles turned white and looked at Kagome for reassurance. "Could she possibly be a trick of Naraku's? A manipulated corpse we are bringing back into our group?"

"Oh, InuYasha! I would have been the first to tell you if I sensed a Jewel Shard in her!" Kagome's shrill scream could have been heard from across the universe as she hounded InuYasha for being 'inconsiderate to a friend'. "How dare you insult Lin in front of her face!"

The odd and peculiar occurrence was that they both turned their attention away from me at that moment, engrossed in a bickering fight. InuYasha threw his weight forward, shrouding Kagome in his roar of aggravation, but he was no match for her impatience. She opened her mouth wide, gulping in a lungful of air before:

"SIT!"

Yes, as I'm sure we all know by now. InuYasha plummeted to the ground, sprawled out in a hilarious display of limbs. He looked like a squashed spider. But, no matter how entertaining or relieved I felt that InuYasha was off my back and on Kagome's case, I had to get help to find Sesshomaru. Wherever he was so was Rin and my son, Ji.

"Kagome! WHATCHA DO THAT FOR?!"

Before Kagome could retort, I stepped in, fully anxious about telling them my predicament, but there help was crucial.

"Stop!" I bellowed, taking notice of the many strange looks my way. "I have to return to my child! Before Naraku can get hold of him or me!"

"That means we must find Sesshomaru, correct?" Miroku asked, eyes closed as he inched towards me. Sango followed, eyeing the monk as to intercept any funny business that he could partake in. I nodded my head urgently, growing more edgy as I thought of Ji, defenseless as he was. Would Kumiko and Kiyoshi be enough to protect Rin AND Ji if Sesshomaru were to leave?

"I will have nothing to do with that arrogant ass!" InuYasha interrupted.

"Come now, InuYasha. What Lin asks is more than reasonable. She merely wants to be reunited with her child. Tell me, you truly could not be so cruel as to deny a mother her child?" Miroku folded his arms around his staff, awaiting InuYasha's answer.

InuYasha's mouth twisted in fury, but he would not utter a sound to condemn himself to the wrath of Kagome, who would no doubt side with me on the matter. Sango urged InuYasha's final say with quiet lines of encouragement as Miroku stared him down in my defense.

"Please. Will you help me find him?" I whispered to him and that was all it took. He broke and sighed roughly.

"Fine!" he threw his arms above his head, giving an overly elaborate display to illustrate that he was going along with the plan. "But if more people die due to that strange noise I heard then don't go crying to me to help!"

"You heard it too?" It came out without a single thought to stop me. I had wanted to get on with the journey to Sesshomaru as soon as possible, but I blurted out the first thought to come to mind after InuYasha mentioned the strange noise.

There they were again. Those eyes of confusion and bafflement. Wondering why I always understood what was being said. Questioning why I was always prepared to answer their questions. Yet, I attributed that to ALWAYS being in the wrong place at the wrong time. InuYasha crossed over to me, frowning down, and his fangs barely peeked from under his lip.

"Explain," he said firmly, letting no emotion through. "Before I find Sesshomaru, explain where the noise was coming from. Why are you connected?"

"If it will get me to my child faster, then I will tell you," I stated, heaving in a large amount of air before recalling all I knew about the mysterious woman, known only to me by the name of a Siren. The same presence resurrected within my body.

Naraku's P.O.V

I resolved that evening that hunting for Lin would be tiresome, yielding little results if she were to cross paths with Sesshomaru. If the multiple deaths across the countryside didn't hint to her that I was involved, then I had something else for her.

Unbeknownst to Lin, she would soon be set against another that she couldn't possibly say no to. So, let her run to Sesshomaru. Let her meet with him and rejoice in her life with her young one. The life I had produced for her. Let these small accoutrements fill her with pleasure until she once again must decide what is best for her. Death, as she so wrongly concluded, was not an escape. Let her choose the next course, all would lead her back to me in the end.

I was back amid my home again, awaiting a very important guest when the young woman walked through my door, escorted by the Kagura. She was exceedingly taller than my detachment and her grace was ineffably uncanny. She had the high browed appearance of nobility, eyes a piercing viridian that locked with mine with no fear. She certainly had arrogance this one. To the slight curve of her nose to the full, yet lined lips, she would not easily be won over. But I, Naraku, was not just another nobody and could enchant the enchanted any day.

"Lady Acantha, I am quite obliged that you have graced me with your presence."

"Hmm? Lady, you say? Well, Lord Naraku, I have come via your request. What use of me is needed?" she recited in a crooning tone.

"Do you recall long ago, my Lady, when you brought a child to the world? But not merely a normal infant was she?" I said as her eyebrow twitched from underneath her chestnut hair. "Yes, Siren? You do know of whom I speak?"

Her eyes narrowed, throwing me a gaze of razors as I satisfied her hate with a simple smile. She picked at the hem of her skirt, nothing close to that of a kimono Lin would wear. Truly, nymphs could not be bound by such inconveniences that a properly worn kimono would entail. Yet, she gave a low sigh, tossing her tousled curls over her shoulder before addressing me as a proper host.

"Lord Naraku, it has been, as you've stated, long ago and I do not know where my child has gone off to. She knows nothing of me and I know very little about her. I hope you understand."

"I'm aware that you have neither nurtured nor raised your daughter, but I do understand. She is a measly half-siren, but I have come to know her quite well. This is the reason I have asked for your presence."

"You know my daughter?! Is she well? Do tell me where she is!"

"Ah, but she has been abducted," I said, lowering my head so she wouldn't see the smile spread wider across my lips. She seemed so fretful about the daughter she had abandoned to the humans, yet perhaps she gave her away with a different purpose. Either way, it wasn't much of my concern. Certainly a Siren would be enough to persuade Lin to pay me a little visit. Not to mention, her own mother.

"By whom?"

"A Lord that goes by the name of Sesshomaru. He has taken both Lin and her new child. He is a powerful demon, full of spite for me and would be a threat to the health of Lin if she remains amid his influence for too long. I beseech you for this reason. I've been struggling for months to find her, but, alas, I am simply no match for him. I haven't the senses to find him, I'm afraid." There's a laugh.

"This, Sesshomaru, has kidnapped my Ligeia!"

"Ligeia?"

"That is her name. I believe you referred to her as 'Lin'?"

"Yes, I suppose that is what the humans named her. This does not matter, though. The question still remains. Will you assist me in rescuing Lin and my child? Will you bring them both back to me? So that she may know you, as I can see you still hold affection for her."

Acantha took this all in and moved slowly towards me, swaying in her steps as she crouched next to my sitting form. She moved her face close to my ear, breathing lightly against my skin, but I could not be brought down by her feeble fancy. Her almond eyes widened, letting in my appearance as she swooped lower to my side.

"My daughter has wonderful taste," she whispered, pressing her lips below my ear.

"I'm afraid that Siren tricks won't work, Acantha. As your wickedness has no effect on a mind as sullied as my own. If your answer be yes, then please request anything from me in return, but Lin and the child must be produced first. Does this suit you?"

She stood up, studying me for a moment before answering with a shrug of her shoulders. "Of course. Anything for my darling Ligeia and her seemingly very generous husband."

5


	5. Chapter 5

And so I told them. What more is there to say? The woman of the lake, the very same that had quietly plagued my mind, was revealed to me as a Siren as I recalled to InuYasha my odd encounter. How do I know this for sure, you ask? Alas, I do not know for certain, but I could feel the raw force of her elevating scales, those notes that wound through my head, pulling my mind from disbelief to true comprehension and confidence. Had I ever doubted the presence in me? Had I ever thought that Sirens were nothing but myths? I understood now. I understood the detached manner that Sirens went about the earth, taking not the flesh or bone from humans. But their souls. Was it any wonder the feeling of self-loathing that boiled amid my veins?

"And is that all you know?" InuYasha stated sternly, glancing away from my face. No sign of disgust, but how I felt the revulsion in his aura at what I just told him! Could he bring himself to think the same of me?

"Yes," I whispered, letting out a sigh that seemed to have been building up since my resurrection. It always feels good to get the truth off your chest, so that everyone understands the circumstances.

"Hmmm?" Miroku mused as he pulled his fingers to his chin. "That could explain the odd deaths across the land these passed few days. Every case was found without a single scratch on them. The Siren or woman Lin described fits these occurrences."

"But what would cause this all of a sudden? Siren's are not new to the lands, so why have there been so many cases in this select location? Why now?" Sango asked.

"That is why I'm still skeptical...yet, perhaps Lin..." But Miroku was cut off by an impatient outcry.

"Does it really matter how these people are being murdered? The fact of the matter is that these people need help, but we aren't going to get anywhere in the middle of the night. I promised to deliver Lin to her child and I will. Then, in the morning, we'll find out what these soul-sucking-sirens have to offer."

The last line he uttered made me cringe slightly, but I let it pass. He had remembered, after all, that all I wanted was to be with Ji and Rin. "Thank you, InuYasha."

"Keh," he breathed. "I promised didn't I?" And with that he turned and began to walk down the path, holding his head to the sky as he sniffed the air. He paused only momentarily before he made a face, wincing from the wind as he beckoned us. "Are you coming?!" he shouted and continued down the path, sniffing loudly as we followed.

It was a long journey, winding up and through the hills encompassed by multiple forests, but what kept my morale up was that thought of Sesshomaru and my family. I was still stuck with the predicament about what I would finally say to them, as I did come back from the dead, but I was excited now. To see them again, to hold Ji and Rin. To speak with Kiyoshi and Kumiko again! It was almost too much to take, but it appeared that my friends had become more suspicious of me than I would have liked. I as I leisurely followed InuYasha, who had long since stopped galloping across the terrain; I heard Kagome and Sango pick up a conversation in the background.

"Perhaps InuYasha is right. The middle of the night is probably not the best time to go chasing creatures we have never come across before, but how does that explain why Lin was the only one to see them?" Kagome whispered. I kept my head straight ahead so that they wouldn't know I could hear.

"I know that she is our friend, but she shows up in the worst places," Sango stated quietly.

"Do you think she had anything to do with the murders?"

"No, but I think she is connected with the Sirens. They wouldn't have been all over this land just as Lin was resurrected by pure chance. It would be too much of a coincidence."

"So, you're saying that Lin..."

"Yeah," Sango's voice cut in. "I think that the Sirens are after Lin for some reason, but that doesn't explain why the one she saw didn't take her."

"Maybe they aren't after her, but... if Naraku had anything to do with Lin coming back...then..."

"He could have caused the Siren uprising!" Sango exclaimed a little too loudly.

"Shush!" Kagome hissed. "Lin has enough to worry about."

Their voices fell to silence as the group made their way through the forest. I did not believe that Sango and Kagome had it correct, but they were definitely on to something. Though I hadn't known for sure who brought me back, Naraku was still on the top of my list. He had caused much woe and sorrow throughout my friends' lives and he could certainly do the same to me, causing an extravagant disturbance of the Sirens. If that were the case, I wasn't merely about to be carried off to him. I picked at the thought, rolling it over and over in my mind before molding a new thought. If Naraku had truly caused the uprising in the Sirens, then he must have known that I had escaped from the village before he could return. He must have planned this in advance if I wasn't willing to come with him as easily as he would have hoped, like when I wasn't there to be taken. This would be considered a plan B, something that I'm sure Naraku would formulate to insure he got what he wanted. Because the Siren in the woods had not abducted me, Naraku must not have complete control over them, but perhaps he is slowly pushing them to anger and, in direct relation to that anger, hostility. This would thus allow his influential nature to become easier to follow by the Sirens due to their rage.

"If the Sirens are being persuaded to be so outwardly violent in this area, then perhaps he is indirectly persuading me to return to him...of my own will." I whispered, coming to the only logical reason I could come up with.

To explain how I reached such a conclusion: Naraku had the power to get me to agree with anything, even if it were the insignificant peril of human strangers. I just couldn't deny my conscience and to have people die because of my stubbornness to return to him would kill me inside. He understood my character, my insatiable manner to do what was right, especially if I was the main factor. But I just couldn't do it, at least now. I had sworn long ago to protect my loved ones as long as I lived. It didn't matter that my life was inconsistent, just that I fulfilled my promise.

"You think you're so smart, Naraku?" I asked the dark, barely loud enough for myself to hear. "Don't think I'll fold that easily."

"Yo!" InuYasha called behind to me.

"Huh?" My head snapped up and I saw InuYasha staring back at me as if he were waiting for me to speak a more coherent sentence. "What is it?"

"To save you the trouble of Sesshomaru and I being seen by one another, I'll have to stop here and let you find him on your own."

"InuYasha!" Kagome called and galloped passed me, shouting in her hot-headed fashion. "We can't just leave Lin here! She could get hurt or killed!"

"And what do you want me to do about it!"

"I want you to..."

But I couldn't take this bickering another moment. I waved my arms at them, catching their attention so that they would stop fighting. "It is really okay, Kagome. I don't want them to fight with each other and you know how Sesshomaru is." I smiled, looking at InuYasha at the mention of Sesshomaru. "I'll be fine. I don't mind. I've lived in the forest all my life and a little trip won't hurt me."

"But...are you sure?" Kagome offered, shooting InuYasha a death glare before turning back to me.

"Yes, I must do this on my own," I said gravely, facing the woods. They looked more malevolent than I had first known. Ever since the arrival of Naraku in my life, the forest left nothing but lugubrious uncertainty. I turned swiftly to face them one more time as they stared back quizzically. "If you ever need help..."

"We'll come find you without a second's hesitation," Sango said with the many approving nods of my companions.

I smiled, "And I'll always be there." I raced into the trees, leaving only myself to the wayward wilderness. It wasn't long in the woods when I started to feel a large presence, a demonic aura off the charts. Though, not completely attuned to this sense, the awakened Siren helped me find Sesshomaru faster, giving me an advantage over normal humans. This I was thankful for, knowing that Naraku would give off the same. A little insurance that I wouldn't be caught entirely off guard.

The further I trekked, though, the stranger the aura became until I realized that it wasn't Sesshomaru's as I had originally thought. The auras broke of into multiple parts, congregating together to create what I had first surmised to be Sesshomaru. They were getting closer, moving quickly towards me when I heard the tiny yelps for help in their directions. *How many demons are there?*

"You can't take him! He is our Lady's," the voice cried, as a young demon crawled out of a bush just ahead, heartwarmingly familiar. He held in his hand a bundle, closely pressed against him as he searched the bush frantically. "Kumiko! Sister, where are you!"

"Kiyoshi! There are thousands!" Kumiko shrieked from the brush. "Get Ji to safety!"

"Where is Lord Sesshomaru?" Kiyoshi screamed as a monstrous demon sprang from the underlying brush, spindles all along its sides. It made a lunge towards Kiyoshi clipping his tail as he dodged the blow. "Please! Help us!"

I pushed passed the last stretch of ground, unsheathing my sword from the ties of my robe as I stepped in front of their cowering forms. I did not look to them; I did not see if they had noticed who I was. All I that mattered to me at that moment was their safety and Ji's as he remained attached to Kiyoshi's chest. I attempted to swing at it, to cut deep within its crunchy carcass, but it moved back in retreat. I tried again, but the same result. The demon appeared to be paused and would not make any motion or attack towards me, yet would not allow itself to be hurt. *Huh?*

"Kiyoshi! Kumiko!" I commanded to the child-like demons behind me, attempting to make heads or tails of this without assuming that they would be dazed of my lively body. "What has happened?"

"Lady...Lady Lin?" Kiyoshi choked from behind me, whispering as if my name had been taboo.

"Oh! So, it is you, my dear?!" said a voice from the side of the spindled demon, still positioned the same way amid the bushes. "I'm surprised I hadn't recognized you sooner, but I suppose the demons knew you just the same." The voice was drawling and song-like, generally pleasing to the ear. I eyed the corner of the demon and, sure enough, there, leaning against a tree as Naraku had all those months ago, was the producer of the voice.

She was stunningly beautiful, with an air of poise that I had never, to this day, seen its equal. She stepped slightly towards me, a questioning look on her face as she closed in with her eyes. Her hair ruffled slightly in the breeze, uncovering her irises to the light that hypnotized me with their similarity to my own. They were the same brilliant green, a rare gem amongst the mediocre that had often stared back at me through any reflective surface. Yet, this was not my face that encompassed them and that chilled my soul to think of what she was.

"Tell me what you want with my child?!"

"Hold your tongue!" she screeched, eyes widening with rage. "Is that any way to speak to your mother?!"

It was like someone punched me in the gut. I retched, losing the grip of my sword as I stepped back, having Kumiko and Kiyoshi look up at me from my feet. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't speak. I simply stared like an imbecile at her, searching for my words. "Mot...mo...Mother?"

5


	6. Chapter 6

How could she be my mother?

This woman, this heartless excuse for a creature on this earth, was downright lying to me. She couldn't be my mother. There was no way that she would strike at my friends and try to steal my child if she was. Not to mention, she had abandoned me for nineteen years! Nineteen years!!! I had grown up in a different household, raised to a different likelihood of my human neighbors and never would MY mother be so cruel as to leave me to the elements!

She couldn't be!

She wasn't!

But as my head screamed these allegations, my heart knew what the truth was. This woman was indeed my mother, from the green eyes down to the auburn hair.

"I do not care if we share the same blood or face, you are not my mother! My mother was a human and cared for me! Now I have a child and I will not just abandon him like you did!" I screamed, seething to the brim with loathing. I was betrayed, forsaken by her…that which called her self my mother.

I scanned her ageless face, years and years had passed and as my mortal mother's youth had faded, this monster's face remained beautiful. Her eyes, though. They were different than what I would expect, though the same as my own, they were sorrowful. As if my words had opened a wound deep within her. A wound that had never truly healed. But it made no sense to me, for she was the one that abandoned me. She was the one that never knew me. She was the siren…and from what I knew of sirens, they wouldn't care about others. Especially a half-breed, such as myself.

She mouthed a word I didn't recognize and reached out while she took her first few steps closer to me, when a new demon I hadn't noticed slithered from out the brush. It coiled around us, lightning quick before I could take a swipe at it. I had been so preoccupied with my alleged mother that he had slipped by almost unnoticeably. The siren recoiled from her progression towards me, shocked as I beheld the serpent demon encircling Kiyoshi. Kumiko made a desperate attempt to crack the locked hold the serpent had to Kiyoshi, who could merely cling to Ji with dear life. Something in me reacted slightly off. I couldn't lift my sword fast enough or my body wasn't responding quickly enough, but the serpent made a swift strike at Kiyoshi's neck and that was it.

The slender fangs perforated his throat, drawing blood that seemed to pour endlessly. Kiyoshi's eyes fell vacant and his arms slackened around Ji until only the serpent's body held my child. And as the demon slinked away into flight, escaping my pathetic attempts to cut it down, I lost Ji for the second time in my life. Yet, Kiyoshi paid the price of my fumble.

Not forgetting my unfortunate child, I fell to my knees, joining Kumiko in her deepened sobs.

"Kiyoshi…brother," she whimpered.

"I'm…I'm so sorry Kiyoshi. You saved Ji the best you could and I couldn't save you…"

It was all my fault, no matter the circumstances that made me react badly, I should have been able to save him and Ji. Even the reappearance of my mother shouldn't have made me forget everything I knew about swordplay. How could I have let her fill my thoughts? How could I have let her blind sight me?

I patted Kumiko on the back in consolation, hoping that what little I could do would be soothing at this point.

"How can you feel so much sorrow for this demon? Surely to have the ones that were abducting your child die would be a relief to you?"

Her voice, so regal, sent my skin crawling as she knew nothing about my life. She looked upon my friends, both Kumiko and Kiyoshi, with such disdain, yet she acted as if she did not know what she had caused or what she was a part. But, looking over Kiyoshi's broken body, I knew that to ignore her existence would not get me anywhere. To simply stare at her in disbelief had caused more damage than getting down to business could and if I wanted Ji back, I had to hear her out. No matter how much I wanted to run her through with my sword, see her pained as much as I was, I had to put aside my hate. For Ji's sake.

"Mo-mother," I stuttered, trying out the words for sound. "Why have you taken my son, Ji? Where have you…" I stopped for the hysteria welled within my voice as a few tears fought to surface. "Where--have you taken him?"

I held my head as it felt heavy with grief, peering through my fingers at her puzzled expression. Her eyebrows pulled together as a crease formed in her paper-white skin.

"Lige...I mean, Lin. I have come per your husbands request...the demon won't hurt your child. If you come with me, I can deliver you back to your home before Sesshomaru shows."

"My husband? Sesshomaru?" Where had she gotten this information from? "Who is my husband? And why would you be instructed to send me away from Lord Sesshomaru?"

"Why, Naraku of course," she voiced, smiling as if waiting for me to rejoice in the news. "He told me you were abducted by Lord Sesshomaru and his band of servants out of spite for your husband."

"Not again!"

"Is there something wrong, Lin?"

"Now he sends my own mother to conquer me… damn that bastard! Damn him to hell!"

I closed my eyes briefly as I paced, trying to think up of some reason why he would take Ji and leave me to my mother. This didn't match what I had thought beforehand…or perhaps it was. He had angered the sirens to get me to come back to him, clearly by all the deaths that were occurring before and after I had met the siren at the lake. But, perhaps when he figured out that I had no intention of returning to him due to this, he used the next plan. The plan that would have me running without hesitation. It went along with everything I knew about him, his conniving ways, his clear tenacity to secure everything he wanted. He wouldn't leave things purely to chance and would think up multiple tricks to get the job done.

And what made it even clearer was the way he executed each plan, each digging deeper into my spirit and sense of righteousness. The first was to simply pluck me from the village, then he used my conscious as sirens were killing hundreds only because I was absent from his side, and then he dragged my son away and left me to my mother. Though excessive, it matched him perfectly.

"Do you truly care for that demon, Lin? More than your mother?"

I lowered my head, opening my eyes from my thoughts so she could not see my tear-stained lids. "He fooled you…Mother. There was no abduction…well, before you came. There was no danger for me…no sadness- until today."

"Lin, my daughter. My darling Lin! Please…make sense," she wept.

I threw my head up in a fit of fury. Who was she to tell me what to do? Who was she to ask for something from me? She was nothing to me…but Naraku's dupe.

"Get it through your head!" I screeched. "Naraku is not my husband, but has used you in an attempt to use me! All he cares about is the Jewel, to get what he wants, whatever that may be!"

"Lin… I didn't know! He knew so much about you! He told me everything that you would know and then some. How could I not believe him? He knew everything!"

"How could you not have known?!" I sobbed, feeling the tugging anger for the loss of Kiyoshi and Ji. "He is everywhere and everyone knows him! How could you not know him?"

I wasn't being fair, but I couldn't erase the image of Kiyoshi's fallen frame and Kumiko's torn face from my mind. I was lashing out on her because of all the anger I felt for her appearing out of nowhere, but more so because it was my fault Kiyoshi died.

"Lin…calm down," she cooed and I leaned into her as she wrapped her arm around me. "I'll win your trust back. I'll help you retrieve your son and kill this Naraku that has brought our family so low. When you know the whole story, you'll forgive me."

"I'm sorry Kumiko," I said, ignoring my mother's words. "I let you down."

Kumiko looked up into my face, the pale face newly aroused with life, but she didn't seem to hate me. She walked from her brother's plot, reaching out to my hand and she held onto it.

"The only thing that would let us down is if you were to give up on Ji and let Naraku win," she said, eyeing her brother briefly. "Kiyoshi and I swore to serve you until death and my brother has fulfilled his promise. I will do the same."

Kumiko had found her strength and that shy, erratic girl that she had once been was no more. She had taken up Kiyoshi's part and began to see that she was to be of a greater something than she had first surmised. She was going to stay at my side and help save the lands from the torment of Naraku's darkness. She understood now that I needed her help more than anything now.

"Thank you, Kumiko," I said. "May I ask you a question, though?"

"Anything, Lady Lin."

"Where are Rin and Jaken?"

She grinned. "Luckily, they left on Ah-Un hours before the attack in search of food."

Relieved that at least Rin was safe from harm, I released myself from my mother's hold, smiling slightly at her maternal response to my pain. I had acted to harshly before and, like she said, should wait to know the whole story before I completely cast her out of my life. Maybe, in the future, she would be forgiven for her year's absence.

"Will you lead us to Naraku, Mother?" I asked as her eyes lit up with gratitude. She nodded her response and we began to exit the forest as I carried Kiyoshi in my arms. Two members of our party were gone, but one was never to return again.

Sesshomaru's P.O.V

I had sensed her and there she was…in the flesh. At first I had not believed my eyes, quite peculiar of an act, I would say so, but I did not understand her life. She looked the same, though a muddled scent of a cadaverous nature still lingered on her skin, she was alive and human once again. Not even clay as Kikyo had been.

She was accompanied by another woman I did not recognize, but hauntingly familiar in appearance to Lin. I had been led to this spot not moments before they all began to retreat into the sunlight and now I understood what Tensaiga had been trying to communicate with me. Lin lived and would lead me to Naraku. She held the knowledge to eliminate him once and for all, but perhaps I needed to see what the new comer to the group was. And what use she could be.

I remained unseen, stealthily weaving through the forest, patiently awaiting the answer to the questions that surfaced. The resolution that would eventually end Naraku.

5


	7. Chapter 7

The journey to Naraku' lair was long and bleak.

Perhaps it was the fact that I was willingly walking into his clutches for the first time, but I knew the despair I felt mostly rested with Kiyoshi, my long departed friend. As the few rays of morning light spread across the land, Kumiko and I set him in the ground and sat in silence for his sacrifice.

Kumiko knelt next to me in prayer as my mother, Acantha, leaned against a nearby tree, clearly uninterested in the tribulations of the young demon girl, let alone her own daughter. I eyed her from my stooped position. She was a haughty woman that tried to come across as maternal and loving as the next mother, but when set in the proper situation, she lacked the motivation to act as such. I shook my head at her and closed my eyes to join Kumiko again in prayer for Kiyoshi. Her brother and the one death I knew I was completely responsible for.

The rest of the day was spent coaxing Acantha to remember the way to the castle and listening to her load of objections. She simply wasn't keen on me going to Naraku when she now knew he was evil. I couldn't understand her that much, but I merely thought that she didn't know what she wanted or what was right for anyone else.

*What a sad existence* I thought, but brushed it aside. She had proven her ignorance to me and I couldn't punish her for that. Her absence for nineteen years, though, had driven me insane when she showed up out of nowhere, but I didn't know the whole story. She could have been justified and I would give her the chance to explain herself.

"Will you stop groaning, Acantha?!" I addressed my mother as this was the fifteenth time she had voiced her complaints this hour. She was supposed to be the mother and I was the one that had to quiet her down when she misbehaved.

*Now that's how it is supposed to go* I thought sarcastically to myself.

"But, my darling!" she whined. "If he isn't your husband, why go to him? He is obviously insane."

Had she forgotten that I had a baby to save? Did she not promise me last night that she would lead me to Naraku so she could gain my trust again?

I glanced sparingly to Kumiko, who rolled her eyes in disbelief. Even she knew how ridiculous my mother sounded.

"Mother, I have a child that has been abducted and is now in the grasp of this so called 'insane man'. Don't you think I should go rescue him?"

"Who is the father of this baby, if I may be so bold? Did Naraku substitute himself for this Sesshomaru? Is that why you defended him so audaciously?"

I stopped dead in my tracks. Kumiko clearly didn't realize my hasty halt and ran straight into my leg.

No one here knew the father of Ji. Of course when I visited the priestesses Kumiko had heard that Naraku was connected, but had she been aware that this child was indeed his? And how was I supposed to explain this to my mother? First of all, she would overreact and think that Naraku had a right to the child. Secondly, that overreaction would lead me to recount the day I was defiled by His hands. I don't think I could revisit that memory. I think you'll all agree that telling your mother of the night you were deflowered is not too high on the list of acceptable conversations.

"Lady Lin?" Kumiko questioned as I peeked from behind my hair at my mother.

I ignored Kumiko and sucked in a hardy breath. "Well…that's complicated and we should discuss it _privately." _I stretched the word 'privately' to exact my point that the subject was off limits.

"Come now…what are you hiding?" She crossed her arms, but I quickly turned to the stretch of road ahead.

"Mother, this isn't important at the time. But I do have something you can do for me, if it isn't too much trouble." Anything to get her off my back would be good. She was too meddling to take lightly with Kumiko in the mix. Besides, she was the only one that knew vaguely where Naraku was located. She could leave us at the next village and find the castle.

"What is that?" She appeared to have forgotten my child's father.

"Would you mind if, as soon as we find the next village, you went ahead and found the castle so that you could just take us straight there?" I glanced at her and saw her eyebrows raised questioningly. "Well, you'd come and get us, but that would help allow us to eat and rest. Since…well…Kumiko and I eat food."

I didn't want to admit that I knew what sirens fed off of. I didn't want her to think I was ashamed of her for her heritage.

Her face told me that she had taken it the wrong way. Her eyes were cast downwards, mouth set in a thin line that trembled slightly. She didn't want to show me her weakness. "Oh…I understand," she muttered feebly.

"It's not like that, but it is true. I want you to know that your legacy isn't why I ask this of you. We really need to know where Naraku is and I don't think you need distractions or hindrances," I said, signaling to Kumiko and me. "You would do better going alone and informing us later."

"Yes," she stated plainly. "I have been nothing but trouble for you and I owe you my full attention. I will do as you request if you promise me one thing in return."

"Anything," I uttered warmly.

"Hear me out when I return. I want you to fully understand."

I nodded in compliance and gave her a small smile that showed her I was telling the truth. She stared painfully at the ground before walking passed us without a second look back.

*Had I truly hurt her feelings?*

I felt a low pressure in my chest, the same that seemed always present when I thought of my family. Did I love her? Was she a part of me that could not be easily thrown aside?

Whatever the case may be, I took to the road, watching her seemingly perfect body from behind.

*At least she has faults. She's not too far from human* I thought. *Perhaps there's hope*

Once the path forked, leaving my mother to the main road and us to the village, she disappeared behind the enveloping trees. I barely caught sight of her infallible hair before she vanished and Kumiko was my only company. That is, until we met Hayate.

The village was nestled between two large cliffs, an appealing setting to the end of our day. Even after the anxiety hit me time and time again, this sight made it all worth while. We would have to, unfortunately, bum a meal from someone, but we were on a greater mission. Naraku affected everyone and to bring him down would repay everyone in time.

The village was still several leagues away and there was only one more soul on the road that evening. He was a decrepit man. He hunched over a cane, forming a spherical effect to his back as he stumbled along the soil. My awakened senses perked up as he gave a wheeze and I could have sworn I sensed something foul about him. Yet, the aura was gone in a flash. He was just a normal human. Perhaps I was faulty and sirens really weren't known to be particularly good at this.

Then, as if the wind had pushed him over, the man collapsed to the floor in one loud thump. I didn't even think about the brief vileness I had sensed. Kumiko ran to his side with three quick hops as I jogged over, holding the loosening robe to my body.

"Are you okay, sir?" Kumiko cried and attempted to lift him to his knees.

"Get demon!" the man barked, baring his teeth and swung his cane, barely missing Kumiko's head. Kumiko raced around to hide behind me as I knelt down to confront him. His hisses didn't cease until I laid my hand on his shoulder.

"Oh!" The poor man bellowed, holding his side as he slinked across the dusty road to get a better look at both of us. "Please, kind lady, please help me!"

"What happened to you? You poor man!"

Kumiko peered from under my arm as the man gave her a devious scoff before looking back to me. His face was purely innocent.

"It was thieves, my lady. They threw me from my horse and I don't mean to be a burden, but I don't believe that I can make it to the village on my own."

"Not at all!" I was about to spend the night outside the village limits and perhaps this man had a place where we could stay. Even watch over him. "Do you have a residence there?"

"Of course, my sweet. You are welcome to my home if you help me to the village just a ways up the road."

He held up his hand to me. I didn't know what was wrong about the circumstances, but I could see something in the way he held his lips just barely open. They were uncomfortably strained as if he were trying to contain a laugh or smile. Then his eyes were large, but didn't seem to be open wide enough. He was hurt, yes? But his face didn't look like that of pain at this moment. He appeared to be focused. On what, I hadn't a clue.

I shook the thought from my head. I hated thinking evil of people when I didn't know the reason for the look or motive. Adder had been that way. He had saved me with his own life and my mother, though reluctant, was willing to help me. I need to keep my mind pure if I were to confront Naraku. So with that behind me, I grabbed his forearm and propped him up on my shoulder.

"Thank you. You are a very kind woman. May I ask your name?"

"It's Lin."

"Lin," he whispered and situated his face into the crook of my neck. "I'm Hayate." I cringed slightly, not wanting this for one minute, but it was a small price to pay for helping someone. And…free food and lodging.

The man's home wasn't what I expected when we arrived. It was shabby; clearly it was weathered just as he was. The rust encrusted the walls and the years at away at the roof where various holes were being formed. In fact, the house wasn't even in the village. More like, slightly obscured by the village. Yet, no matter the condition, it was a home and I ushered him through the door. When I was sure he could stand, I let him go and watched him tend to his own personal stash of fresh vegetables.

"Lin," Kumiko voiced lightly from behind. She stood scarcely in the doorway, hesitating to enter. "I need to speak with you."

"Certainly."

"My Lady, I don't like that man," Kumiko whispered as I just closed the door. "He has a menacing look and this house isn't exactly in the village. Didn't you see his face at all?"

*So, she had seen it too.* I thought, but I knew what was right.

"Kumiko, this man needs us. He is seriously hurt and can barely stand… do you think we can just forsake him in his time of need?"

She cupped her face in her hand, seriously considering my question before she sighed in frustration. "No…but there is something about him that doesn't sit right with me."

"Can you sense him to be a demon, Kumiko?" Perhaps she observed something I hadn't.

"No," she mumbled, still attempting to make me see what she had so clearly focused in her own mind.

"Listen, I will take what you have told me in the highest respect. I will look out for both of us and if anything seems off, then we will leave- no questions asked." She glared sparingly at the floor until she reluctantly nodded her sanction. "Besides, we are on our way to Naraku now and the sighting of Acantha will inform Naraku of our impending arrival. So this couldn't be a trick of Naraku's. As soon as she reunites with us, then we'll be gone anyway."

"All right, Lady Lin, let's go."

Hayate was lying on the floor, completely fragile and pitiful. He reached to pull up his cover, but I intercepted before he could strain his wounds any further. "Here, let me get that."

"You are so kind and gentle … you remind me of someone I've known before. Surely you are greatly missed from where you come from?" The smile that wanted to break through from the beginning emerged and it sent an uneasy sensation about me.

"I have no home, sir. No village is my home and thus, I am not missed at all."

"Not even a husband? Someone as gentle and soft as you should have a man… someone that you devote yourself to entirely."

"Um…yeah, I guess I'm just unlucky." I hated the ways of the serving class. Women must devote themselves to husbands and I understood that, but sometimes men took it too far.

"Hmmm… yes."

"Is there anything that I can get for you? Broth, a moist compress?"

He moved his fingers to my hand and traced up them with tender strokes. "Your company is all I require for the moment."

"Um… okay then."

Kumiko crawled across the floor and stood at my ear. She cupped her hand to my skin so that he couldn't hear her. "I told you he was a nut."

"You know… he's just old and lonely. Can we blame him for wanting company?"

"All right, but if it gets weirder, we are leaving. Right?"

"I promise."

"What are you two talking about?" His voice seemed deeper and drawling with disdain as he glared at Kumiko. "Why do you seek company of a demon? Even one so small and insignificant?"

Kumiko's blonde hair spun around, muffling the screams with a firmly shut mouth.

"This is Kumiko and she is my friend. If you don't want her here, I'll have to leave with her. Where she goes, I go."

"I wasn't insinuating that you make her leave. I just wanted to know." He grinned and pulled the covers over his mouth as his beady eyes continued to throw daggers at Kumiko.

*What is his problem?*

Acantha's P.O.V

I finally found Naraku's castle deep in the night, but it was being held together by another aura. I couldn't enter the barrier and I knew Naraku was waiting for me to come back along with Lin. He would want to know any information concerning her, so why was I locked out? Why could I not sense his presence?

"He's not here." The thought passed over my lips and before I could draw another conclusion, I was running for the village. The village Lin was in and could definitely be her last living quarters.

"He went after her. He never thought I would bring her!" I was panting as I raced down the road. I didn't care about that little demon girl with her. She could die for all I cared. I only wanted my daughter. I wanted her to understand. How could I speak with her if Naraku took Lin and never let me see her again?

How did he know what I was thinking? How did he know that I had no intention of taking her back? I had simply thought that seeing him would make him believe that I was obeying. That showing up as I just did would make him less suspicious. Then I would take Lin in a different direction- away from him.

"How did he know? How did he know?"

Lin's P.O.V

In the middle of the night I woke up from a dreamless sleep. My joints were stiff from the long trip and I quickly tried to place the unfamiliar scene in front of me. I searched the dark room, swimming in the ghostly effects of the moon emanating from the window. Kumiko was fast asleep, twitching her tail in a dream of some sort. I smiled and sighed deeply before turning back to my pillow.

But before I could drift back to slumber, I sensed the aura again. It was stronger, dimly pulsating in and out of my grasp. I couldn't comprehend why this energy was so fickle. Why did it not stay?

Then, without warning, I heard heaving breathing above me and as a wheeze broke through the night, I knew who it was.

"Hayate?" I shrieked softly.

"You really are righteous, aren't you?"

"What?" I whispered.

"That blameless face of yours- it sickens me. You look no more than fifteen when you look up at me with your eyes." I could only think of my serious lack of large breasts compared with every other woman around me at that comment.

I wanted to wake Kumiko or just scoop her up and run out of there. This was madness. I didn't know what to do. I was frozen, staring up into his eyes with only one word that would come out. "What?"

"Even as you repeat the same question, I can't find fault with you. Why hasn't it tainted you? Why are you still able to trust strangers? How could you still be finding ways to forgive?"

"Forgive who?"

"Your mother! That damned fool, Adder! Even when Sesshomaru abandoned you, you still forgave him when it wasn't your fault, but why?" His voice boomed but it was still controlled. Still but a hum to the real tone it could be. "Why won't you stay down? Why won't you be conquered fully like a good girl?"

"How do you know them, Hayate? Why would you bring this up?"

But I knew that stare.

I knew that fury.

I knew that smirk.

"You're trying too hard, Lin. Forgiving those fools will not purify your filthy self. You aren't a clean human, but sullied with the evil that is the siren. And it is that siren that will take hold of your soul! The siren that will help me get what I want!"

"Never," I hissed, pulling myself up into a sitting position.

He chuckled darkly, now utterly without a hint of his wheezing cover. "Do you know why your comment makes me laugh, Lin?"

I merely glared at him, wondering why Kumiko wouldn't wake. Did he do something to ensure that I was alone in this? That I couldn't be helped at all? "You have my son," I finally muttered.

"What was that?"

"You have MY SON!" I screamed, standing up with clenched fists.

"Yes, but there is also a surprise waiting for you at the castle. You will love it and I'm sure I'll have what I want afterwards."

"And that would be?"

"You wouldn't want to ruin my fun, would you?" He smiled the old, cracked smile of the man formerly known to me as Hayate. "I swear that you'll have everything you want and more than you ever expected."

9


	8. Chapter 8

Acantha's P.O.V

I was running as fast as I could to get back to Lin!

She was in grave danger and I could only guess that Naraku had figured on my betrayal the day I had agreed to abduct my daughter for him. Of course I didn't know then that all his words had been a lie and that I wasn't doing my daughter a favor. Perhaps he saw that I cared for my daughter. Perhaps he counted on that weakness in me and planned that I'd never keep my end of the bargain if his name were revealed to Lin.

I just wanted my daughter back and even though Naraku ended up being the bad guy in the end, I was more or less the one with the guilty conscience now. To think that having a mortal's child would give me such a soul!

But more than anything, I knew Lin hadn't forgiven me completely. No matter how much she told me she did. I wanted her to know the truth and why I had abandoned her all those years ago.

It is truth that we sirens never keep our sexual partners alive, but I never thought this wrong until the day I had found myself plagued with a child of my own. Certainly sirens mate among themselves, but I was not carrying the child of a siren, but of a human.

Her father had long died due to my thirst for his ethereal fabric. In other words, his soul. Plus, I never considered giving birth to the child that was to become my Lin. I had gone as far as to hold the tip of a knife to my slowly expanding stomach. It was the custom of my kind. Never let there be a living being that taints both the humans and sirens. Like demons, we hated anything mixed.

Yet as I scratched the edge of the knife to my skin, I couldn't do it. There was something about my position in the world as a mother that wouldn't allow me to kill something so innocent and fragile. Even if it was merely an embryo.

But Lin still doesn't understand that I was exiled for my own betrayal to the siren clan. They could sense the muddled aura of my child and I ran far away, in hopes that they would never find my darling girl. Though exiled, Lin's life was still in danger. So after her birth I left her in a human village. The only siren hint being that of her emerald eyes.

I had to tell her it was for her own safety that I let her go. I had to make her understand that without the cloak of humanity to shield her, the sirens would have found her long ago and dispatched her.

Now Naraku had them, those sirens, in his control, promising them lands full of souls that will be theirs if they deliver the half one. My daughter. They surely didn't care for her, so they agreed. Just as I had, but for a different reason.

I still loved my daughter. I had never stopped loving her.

That was my story, but it seemed that I wouldn't be able to reach her in time. Across my path stood a demoness, a sorceress of the wind, that was determined to keep me at bay.

"Where do you think you're going?" she drawled.

"Kagura," I growled low, waiting for a strike of her fan to hit me. "Let me through. You have no idea what you are allowing!"

"Yes, I'm quite aware of Naraku's whereabouts, but I must obey."

"I have to save Lin! She doesn't know Naraku is about to…"

The sky darkened from its previous gloom. All along the sky there grew a low, swirling gust of toxin, thick enough to catch my lungs in a vice. I staggered back a bit comprehending that it was too late. Naraku had returned, surely Lin would be in his grasp as well.

I had failed as a mother. I couldn't protect her any longer.

Lin's P.O.V

The miasma had never really given me that much trouble except the frequent bout of unconsciousness. But at least I survived each time.

I had resolved to travel back to Naraku's presence willingly earlier that day, but I didn't understand why he wished to take me by force. It didn't make sense. Though nothing ever did when it came to Naraku.

The castle was as gloomy as I left it about four times to be exact, but this was the first time I had come of my own accord- well originally, that is. The weirdest part of the whole ordeal was that he permitted me to walk without restraint. I simply trotted alongside his wide gait like a trained dog. But I knew that was wrong. The loathing I felt for him still seethed within my veins. He had my son, damn it, and I wasn't leaving until Ji was free.

"Come, Lin-dear, and I'll set you up in the room across the hall from mine," he said, sliding the door imperturbably to the right only to push me inside. I peered in again, revealing just another room. Brown, wooden walls boxed in the mats placed orderly throughout. Just another dank and shadowed quarter within this castle.

*Fourth* I thought bitterly, comprehending that this was the fourth time I was taking up lodgings here.

"Thank you, sir," I stated apathetically. I walked through the rest of the door, throwing down my rucksack that was always attached to my back as Naraku followed, sliding the door closed.

"May I see my son, Lord Naraku?" I kept my eyes straight ahead, glancing out of a window that he allowed me to have this time. There wasn't much of a view, regretfully, but the gesture hadn't gone unnoticed. That bastard thinks that he can persuade me to do anything! How wrong could he get? He didn't try to chain me, he let me have my own room and not to mention a window. What is he aiming at?

"He's quite content with me at the moment," he voiced after a while from behind. I could hear the slight fluctuations of his words, attempting to dissolute my thoughts. Trying to make me believe my son was rightfully his as well. "I'm afraid you'll have to hold up your end of the deal before I let you see him."

"What deal? I never agreed to anything," I growled.

"Oh, but you did. Before your death, I promised Ji would be in your arms only if you corrupt the core of the Jewel."

"You are quite sure I'm even able to do this? How can you be certain?"

He chuckled lightly and cupped my shoulder in his hand. Slowly, but surely, my back was drawn towards his chest as he positioned his lips to my ear. "My demon told me at the village of the priestesses. I'm always watching you."

I pushed him away and surprisingly he let go and backed away to let my fury cool.

"And I merely have to taint these 'shards' for you and I'll be able to leave?"

"Shards?" he scoffed. "I'm past shards, Lin. The Jewel is missing only one. Within Kohaku, but that will be easily procured."

So, Sango had been correct. Perhaps I could help him along with my son? But why would someone working under Naraku have a shard for no reason? It must be important for this Kohaku to keep it, right? Right?!

"You won't…kill him…will you?"

I continued to stare into his eyes, waiting for some lift of spirits at the thought of killing, but he kept his composure. Not even a smile. "Now, why would I do that?"

"That didn't answer my question!"

"Lin, what difference does it make? Kohaku or your son? My desires or their deaths? It is all relevant, my dear. All these outcomes rest on your decision. What is your answer?"

"The Jewel is all you want? Just the corrupted Jewel and you let me go?"

"Well…ye-es, but I have one…small condition that you must meet and then we'll see what fate has laid out for you." He crossed over to the opposite wall, entering my eyesight before he continued with a smirk. "I've moved mountains to obtain you when, like any normal demon, I would have absorbed you for the power you possess, but you are half and not a demon in the least. You're body would give me no sustenance and weaken me severely, so I must have you healthily by my side. To secure this, to give you a solid, tangible foundation to work with, you must comply with my request."

"Request? Other than that of the Jewel?" I arched my eyebrows and crossed my arms. Meanwhile Naraku's smile widened, confirming my assumptions. "Naraku! I never dreamed that something that didn't give you direct power could be of any interest to you. You're not one to do me favors…why give me this 'tangible foundation', as you put it, as part of the request?"

"Let's say it will benefit us both if I allow such an arrangement."

"Now I'm interested," I snapped sarcastically. "What is this request?"

He lowered his head so that his eyes gazed from under his eyelids, giving a malevolent affect to his already sharpened stare. "You must genuinely become my wife."

My mouth fell open, I'm not joking. My arms dropped to my side, my eyes became enlarged as Naraku solely studied my reaction. It seemed to have thoroughly pleased him. "Wha..What did you say?"

"Stay here and be my wife. You already have the malice and the son."

"You cannot be serious? Tell me you are joking or taunting me or something!" The same apathy sat upon his features, unmoved by my pleas. In fact, I saw a bit of anger, rather than satisfaction, surface from beneath his unfazed façade. "Why would you need that? It doesn't give you anything but another burden. Just let me and my son go!"

"Lin, you don't seem to understand the kind of bond I'm referring to. I use the word 'marry' loosely, as a guiding tool to help you realize your full potential. The ceremony, something designed by me, will give you the catalyst for the evil of the siren. To wake the dormant creature inside you that the priest suppressed, I must give you something of mine."

"No! No more of your tricks! You are a psycho and clearly delusional if you think that you ,the man that killed me, would also be my husband!" The corners of his mouth leveled out, narrowing his eyes until nothing but elongated slits were left to look through.

"I'll leave you to rethink that statement…" he hissed as he opened the door, glancing sparingly behind him. "You will agree by tomorrow if Ji is to remain unharmed. Remember this, Lin. If I truly want another son, there will be no deterring me. Ji is insignificant and disposable."

"GO TO HELL!" I screamed at the firmly shut door as I took my rucksack, flinging it against the window. Nothing happened, but I was too infuriated to care what broke or not. There was no way in heaven, hell, or the earth that he would make me do such an act. He had something else in mind.

This marriage, this union, whatever he disguised it with was only words. He was planning something that would benefit his cause. With strict guile, he attempted to cloak his true mission with loving words that were obviously unbecoming of him. But what was it that he wanted? What was it that I could give him with this ritual?


	9. Chapter 9

The mockery of my quarters was not wasted on me. No matter how many times I had found myself trapped among these pilings, I was caught in utter darkness. I had always felt that he kept me hidden in case I found a way to access light or escape. Yet today I had a window. I had a few inklings of outside life shining through the miasma, but he knew I'd be stuck here. He knew I wouldn't leave this time.

I sat in my favorite position against those old, wooden walls. That deep pressure against my chest started again, waiting to crush my lungs from its weight. I wanted to scream, but couldn't find the air. I wanted to run, but my legs stuck firmly to the ground.

I was out of plans and I didn't know what to think or who I could rely on. I knew for sure my reliability was waning.

*You can do this. You can do this, Lin. Just get up and…*

I couldn't finish my thought before the door beside me slid open, revealing Kagura. I had only met her once, when I was struck with amnesia, but the memory that she had stolen Ji from me was all too clear.

"Get out," I found my voice cracked but still forceful enough to evoke some sort of fear in her.

"Why are you so testy, hmm?" She pressed her fan to her lips and smirked. "And to think I was going to give you something."

"How can you work for this monster? Someone that steals something innocent and taints it to the core? That takes a young girl that finally found a home and rips her into pieces again? What more can you take from me?" I tore my eyes from her, not being able to stand my weakness.

I remained slumped against the wall. The panic in my voice was undeniable. I truly had lost all hope. Kiyoshi was dead. I hadn't a clue where Kumiko or Ji was. Acantha had abandoned us or had somehow lead Naraku to us.

And what of Sesshomaru?

I hadn't sensed his presence since my revival. Surely he would be repulsed to see me alive again, knowing that he had seen me torn from this world. I knew him well enough that my significance to him, had I ever had any, would be spent. Worthless now. I was on my own.

I turned back to Kagura who hadn't taken her sights off me. Her eyes held no malice, no ill will. They looked deep within my own, perhaps silently apologizing for all that had happened to me. Perhaps trying to tell me of a predicament she had as well. Or merely coercing me into another trap.

"What else do you want from me?" I whispered to the hushed room.

"We haven't much time," she calmly stated and held out her hand. Though I couldn't reach her outstretched hand from where I sat, her gesture was just as potent as she meant it to be.

"What of Naraku?"

"You angered him, but there is something outside the castle walls. Something that could interfere with his plans, so we have time. Just not much of it."

My mind jolted quickly, jumping to every possible conclusion that could free me. My spin stiffened suddenly as I held my head high, eyes widened, and senses open.

There is was.

Something blanketed by the poison outside. Something scarcely perceptible, but still there. My despair had overpowered my senses, but hope had given me a boost in spirit. He had followed. He knew.

"Sesshomaru."

"Not for very long, Lin. That is why you must follow me. I must show you this now."

I stood up without hesitation. "How am I to meet Sesshomaru if Naraku is out there with him?"

"You're not going to meet up with him. I must take you to the dungeon while Naraku is preoccupied."

That is not what I wanted to hear.

"But he is here! He could save…"

"Naraku will not allow it! I know what you feel. You want to be set free, you want a life with another man but you're desired by someone else. You want everything that is normal to a woman, but that isn't the circumstances, Lin!"

"But…"

"I loathe Naraku with all my being. He knows it and I know it. I will help you because you will either strengthen him or defeat him. Kill him, but today is not the day. Naraku has you and will not lose you. He will not waste too much time with Sesshomaru. So the castle will disappear before Sesshomaru breaks through the barrier."

"Then we must stop Naraku! We must help Sesshomaru break through!"

"Do that and Ji dies. Do that and your mother dies. People can help you only to a point, but you have to take it upon yourself to destroy Naraku. If he is to be defeated, then you must play the game."

"I am not pure enough to defeat him. I can only corrupt things. A priestess, maybe, but why not someone else?"

"Come, your mother finds it necessary to speak with you," Kagura said, completely ignoring my question.

I was correct, right? Why did Kagura have so much faith in my abilities to kill Naraku, rather than Sesshomaru or InuYasha? Hell! Even Kikyo had enough spiritual powers to dispose of him, but Kagura believes in me? Why? And what did my mother have to do with it?

"My mother? But she betrayed me. She offered us up to Naraku! How can you…"

"Don't be quick to judge her. I've spoken with her and she only wishes to help you. She repented to me; plead with me, to take you down there. If only for a moment."

I don't know whether it was the sincerity in Kagura's eyes or the mention of second chances. It had become sort of a necessity these days to know who to trust and who deserved a second chance. Kagura, the slave and the abductor. She had taken Ji, but only because of the power hanging over her. She wasn't complete. I could feel that something was missing from her and it was this something that would not allow her to defy Naraku.

Just as he had Ji. The closest thing to my heart itself.

Whatever my hesitation was, I followed Kagura to the dungeons. Our hurried steps padded madly over the planks, as the familiar door opened and I found myself once again on those steep stairs. Every step I took, I beheld Naraku's collection of devices. Each one as painful as the next, until the latticework cages appeared before us.

Kagura lightly tapped on the wooden bars and gestured me towards the many openings.

My mother was indeed the one inside. Her waved hair lay in heaps across her face and her limbs seemed thinner under the weak candlelight. It was hard to tell from lack of light, but as she made her way over to me, limping, I believe a saw a deep wound across her side. The blood still wet.

I turned to Kagura. "Did you..?" I signaled Acantha's injury.

"No." But Acantha had been the voice that answered. "Kagura stopped me from returning to you, but it was Naraku that made it certain I wouldn't be able to run."

Her foot caught a piece of filth and as suddenly as her voice had come forth, she collapsed along the bars. That's when I saw her arms weren't working correctly. They were twisted and torn. The bones poked and stretched across her skin, still attached, but the pain on her face told me that he had done more damage than the outside showed. She momentarily leaned against the bars, but slide down to the ground. Her wounds just wouldn't allow her to stand anymore.

"What has he done to you?" I growled as I kneeled down to her level. I didn't hold back my tears. Not since Naraku had appeared could I hide my feelings for my loved ones. "Tell me!"

"Lin, there isn't much time."

"Not that tripe! Tell me what he did to you!"

"Kagura has told me everything. About Ji, about Naraku, even Sesshomaru. I have to tell you something…"

"Mother, you don't have to explain. He tricked you just as he tricked me. You don't have to apologize."

She smiled and let her own tears fall.

"No. Not that…" she paused to cough; a red stew covered her mouth, slick and dripping. "When I left you to the humans, I was protecting you from my life. From those that wanted to hurt you, from those that would treat you unkindly for what you were. And also, I was saving you from our world. You were meant for better."

"I forgave you, mother. Believe me…"

"I do. I didn't believe it before. Probably because I felt the guilt, but you are not me. You are…"

"Half Siren?" I asked sarcastically.

"Lin. You are Lin. Never Ligeia and that is why you will triumph."

"Over Naraku?"

"You have to destroy him. He mustn't get the corrupted jewel as I've come to understand your position in his plan. Don't allow it." Her eyes bore into mine with such fervor that I was frightened by the fire beneath them. She knew.

"He has my child, mother. He will inevitably win."

"Only you can defeat him. He will fall to you if you stay strong."

"But, like I said to Kagura, I'm not pure. I corrupt things. I haven't the light to kill him, to purify him."

"Naraku uses the siren in you and this makes sense. Sirens are wicked but humans can be good. Like you. Naraku has placed too much importance on your shoulders, therefore, you will be able to control him with your humanity."

*Sirens could be good too* I thought while looking to my mother.

"How can my human side overpower the siren?"

"It had for many years. Love produces love. The years among the humans had purified you and overpowered your opposing blood. That is how the other sirens never found you. Naraku merely released the siren in you the last time…well, as Kagura says, you were together. Hate produces hate, you see. He plans to raise that blood to full control with this union. Don't let him."

"But if he has my child?"

"Do what you must do to protect Ji, but never allow him to control you with your own weakness. He'll be able to get away with more damage, but don't let it hurt you to where you can never repair. Never allow him access to your heart."

"My heart?" It was a wonderful notion, but hadn't he already taken a hold of it. "Between Ji, Kiyoshi, Adder, and my mother, you still don't believe he hasn't wounded my heart? Look around you, he has trumped me. I haven't anything left."

Her head shot up from the floor and her gaze pierced through the blackness. "Never say that again! Lin, don't you see that is exactly what he wants. Despair."

"What?"

"As long as you are able to hold on to something, love anything, he will not be able to control you entirely. There will always be a bit of Midoriko's light in the Jewel if you are still able to believe in good."

"But how do you know?"

"Just because Naraku has slipped my attention, does not mean I don't know the origin of the Jewel. I am a siren, Lin. We are gluttonous creatures that wish for power and possessions. Of course we know the Jewel, but you cannot allow the siren nature to overpower you like it had just now."

"I've never been able to purify the Jewel before, even when surrounded by loved ones. How do you expect me to neglect half myself to defeat him? How?"

There was an unnatural silence from the cage as she rested her head against the opposite wall. The fire died from within her eyes as she stared back. I could see her pain, but nothing could prepare me for what her response was.

"Get rid of that half," she mumbled.

"What?!" I yelped, but she was unresponsive. She was lost to me. Her eyes rolled back in her head and she fell to the floor in an unconscious heap. I didn't waste a single moment before I was attached to the bars, trying in vain to pry them open. "Acantha! Wake up!"

I leapt off and searched desperately for any sign of Kagura, but she was nowhere to be found. Instead, a large hand reached out from the dark and wrung my neck, cutting off the air. It took a while to see what was before me but my eyes adjusted just in time to see the blazing eyes of Him.

"Na..ra.." I choked out, but couldn't speak. I was losing it quick, but he wouldn't let up until I began to desperately slap his wrists. The flow of air managed to enter once he let go, but now I was left alone with the devil. Acantha was gone for now and Kagura had fled (probably aware that Naraku was returning). But what could I do.

"What are you doing down here?" he hissed, holding back his hand that was still itching to wring my neck. "Tell me what she told you! Explain to me why you were out about the castle when I explicitly," he paused to slap me brutally across the cheek, "told you to remain in your room to think about your situation!"

"I…" but he made another swipe across my face.

"You foolish girl! Do you realize the consequences? Do you realize all that is at stake? Tell me what that…" he pointed at the unconscious Acantha, "…told you!"

"She told me she was sorry!" I yelled. I was frightened. I didn't know what was going to happen now that I was caught. The murderous look in his eye told me that Ji life was slipping through my grasp. I had to act.

"Sorry? That piece of shit asked you to forgive her, did she? And what did you say?"

How could I calm him? Then it hit me.

"I lied."

"About?"

"I told her I forgave her, but I don't. How could I? She kidnapped Ji. She left me for dead in an unfamiliar human village. She never cared about me. Of course, she did give me one good piece of advice."

Perhaps this would work.

"And what would that be, my dear?" The 'r' rolled deep within his throat as his eyes attempted to see through me.

"She envied your strength and intelligence. Though she wanted me to forgive her, she also thought that you wouldn't be a bad husband after all."

"Hmm?"

"I…I agree."

"To what, may I ask?"

"I will be your wife."


	10. Chapter 10

**A Heart's Will- chapter 10 (The rough cut)**

"No. No. No. No! NO! I refuse! I reject this union! I will not do it!"

"Stop being so difficult! It will be over in a matter of hours!" Kagura huffed and continued to drag me full force down the hall towards the outside grounds.

"This is only the beginning! It will never end! Let go!" She became impatient, dropping my hands as she adopted a serious look.

"Naraku will kill that child if you try his patience!"

"What chance does Ji have if I die? None whatsoever! And I will surely die if I go through with this!" I challenged her glare with a sturdy gaze. But what was I fighting but the inevitable? Nothing but my damn pride, that's what! Yet I broke down on my knees, shaking violently, before she could answer. "There has to be a way out of this."

"Listen to me, Lin," Kagura cooed whilst standing above. "Naraku does not care for the kid in the least and will replace him if that is what he must do. But he cannot replace you. Your Ji's only hope."

"But…to be joined with…this…this man," I spat the words out as they raked my tongue. Oh, he wasn't a man, but neither a demon. He was a blend of poison and deceit. Not a man. "I hate this!"

I stood up in a violent rage, almost tripping on my kimono in the process.

"No one said life was easy, so suck it up and marry the man!"

I bared my teeth. "Fine!" I growled. "But do I have to wear this thing?" I lifted the arms of the kimono, having the extravagantly long sleeves that were trailing the floor barely hover in the air. "They're completely impractical!"

"Well you're not going off to till a field! You're getting married!"

"Oh, please don't remind me! Additionally, I don't think 'marry' is the right word. He'll probably have me eat slugs or something."

She gave a tiny laugh and grabbed my wrists without a word. My first instinct was to struggle again, but that was getting us nowhere. I followed silently until we reached the end of the hallway that lead to the room designated for hosting guests.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, leading me to my certain doom. A large door in front of us would soon open up to a dingy room, composed of nothing but Naraku and the priest. I smiled to think a holy man would be here, but it was a short lived elation of my spirits. I didn't know if Ji would be in attendance or not, but if this was what had to happen to keep him alive, then I would belong to Naraku. Help him. I had already proved my willingness to keep Ji safe when I agreed all those months ago to assist Naraku. The day I died in more ways than one.

I entered.

The corners were coated in webs, wet with slime that reached the floor boards and covered the wood in a thick, rather repugnant scent. The windows were drawn closed by the threads and the only light emanated from a single burning candle at the front of the room. There two faces illuminated the dreary background. The first, which I could only assume was the priest due to his unfamiliar features, glowered through the darkness. Naraku's aura was piercing, almost swallowing the entirety of the room, but the priest had nothing holy about him. His aura had either succumbed to the miasma or he was no ordinary man of the cloth.

Just like Naraku to keep anything wholesome at least five miles from his castle at all times.

The other face, I'm sure you know, was that of my husband. Right…like I could ever get used to that title. He sat, kneeling, at one end of the table and I moved effortlessly along the sludge-laced floor to the opposite side. Positioning myself properly, I lowered my head to the dancing flame and beheld a tea set. But there was nothing startling about a couple of cups, except that each was filled with a steamy liquid. Though I wished it were tea, I highly doubted it.

*What are you getting at?*

"Wait," Naraku whispered to me and turned to the priest.

And he was off! Like a brushfire eating an entire forest, the priest commenced the 'ritual' faster than I could make out his words. They were gargled and hoarse, but ordered Naraku to partake in the tea first while I analyzed his facial expression. Yet I couldn't decipher one emotion of distaste or bitter revulsion at the tea. Perhaps there was nothing wrong after all?

Naraku replied with an unnerving and foreign dialect. Then it was my turn.

The demonic priest looked to me, gesturing towards the cup. The very same that held that clouded concoction. I thought of Ji. I knew Naraku wouldn't kill me, but that fact did not steady my heart. Ji couldn't they take care of himself? But why was it placed on me when I was barely in my twenties? It all started when I was sixteen and Naraku was still at large. Still making my life a living hell!

I was being selfish and I sealed my fate when I swore to protect my family. So, with sweaty palms and wide eyes, I raised the cup to my lips.

"Wait, Lin," I heard Naraku calmly state and he pushed the cup gently towards the table.

"What?" I cried, but he held his wrist over the mouth of the cup and with a delicate swipe of his index nail, he perforated his skin. A sickening stream of fluid ran brown into the tea while a few stray drops fell to the table and ate away at the wood as if there had been nothing but air in the way.

"The tea will hold the toxin until you drink," he stated and nudged the cup closer to my chest.

I wasn't sure what I had just witnessed. Not only did he want me to consume poison, but it had come out of his body! No! No, I don't think so!

"No…" I muttered.

"Have you changed your mind, Lin? Right in the middle of our ceremony?"

I thought of Acantha. I remembered that I had lied to save her from Naraku's anger. I remembered that it was me who had called for this ceremony today. I may have pitched a fit in the beginning, yet I realized that not only Ji, but Acantha, my mother, was in danger of punishment. And he had them in his clutches. These were no idle threats anymore. I could not send them away to safety. He had them and I couldn't protect them without sacrifice.

"Hmm? Are you having second thoughts?" Naraku continued, fully aware that I made up my mind for good.

Without a word, I lifted the cup again and pressed the ceramic edge to my lips. Eyes flitting from priest to Naraku, I opened my mouth. My lips trembled as the balmy haze of toxin and tea mixed within my throat until there was nothing left in the chalice.

I waited for an explosion of pain or an indescribable attraction to Naraku, but nothing of the sort happened. Instead, the priest pulled our hands together, mine against the devil's, and croaked the final words and then, he was no more. As if uniting my life with this monster was his entire purpose in life, the priest fell to dust and dissolved into the black.

"How?"

"Is that all you can say?" I didn't expect to find Naraku suddenly beside me, but he still held my hand and with a jerk, had me standing in a matter of seconds. "Let us retire to our quarters. You'll need you're rest."

"But…but…you just fed me poison and I'm no worse for the wear? How can any of this be according to plan? I'm…well…I'm just confused."

"As you should be, but haven't you figured out that you can enter this castle without dying? The miasma may weaken you, but what kills humans merely stuns you. I thought you could think of that much."

I had never thought of that. Maybe it was because I had no humans to compare my progress with, other than Adder and Char, but they had been partially under Naraku's control. There might have been a reason for that after all.

"Come on, then," he offered me his hand.

But I had other things on my mind. "Where's Ji?"

"Safe," he mumbled and tightened his grip on my hand. "Come."

I remained motionless to his tug.

"Now, Lin," he hissed, but I shook my head. "NOW!"

"I want Ji!" I screamed and pulled my fingers free. "Give him to me!"

Naraku looked over at me in utter shock. Not that I had commanded him, but that the screeches issuing from my mouth were not of a normal volume. They were unearthly and wavered in waves of high-pitched shrieks, furious to the point of breaking. The poison must have let the siren go. My anger tipped me over the edge and I was no longer in control.

Yes, I could feel the dim film over my eyes as my vision went red. How foolish could Naraku be if he released the siren, I might be able to hurt him? Or harm him enough to run away? Had he not accounted for my fury? But what did I care. He stood there, a new smirk in place.

What joy it would be to claw those lips straight off his face!

I lunged. Quick and easily landing on his chest and pushing him against the wall, I sank my nails into his chest. The lengthened while the siren blood raced within my veins and a deep fluid oozed out from the wound. Within my fevered mind, a faint echo of my former sanity told me that this was of no use. Naraku rebuilds himself and my tainted will to kill him wouldn't harm him for any substantial amount of time.

Almost instantly as I dug deeper in the wound I had made, a searing pain ripped through my shoulder. It grew and grew until I crumbled to the floor, reverting back to my right mind. It appeared that the siren hated pain and let me take the blow. How lovely!

I attempted to sit up, but floundered to the floor, my hand on my chest as I tried to keep my breaths steady. My kimono was damp and when I looked down, I saw that the entire front was soaked in blood. Red and spreading slowly passed every bead and flower, I had injured myself? How could this be?

"You see, Lin?" Naraku's voice echoed throughout the hall. His boots moved into my sight and I peered up into his face through my hair, still crouched in anguish. "You can't harm me."

"Blood…my blood? How did this happen?" I coughed.

"I see you've regained control. Let's save the siren for the bedroom, huh?" He smiled and swiftly grasped my hair in his hands. Like a rag-doll he hauled me off the floor and stuck his nose in my face.

"What did you do to me?" Through all the panting, I knew he could see the burning hatred in my eyes. He would tell me or I'd die extracting the information myself.

"You are bound to me, Lin-dear. You are for me. My pain is your pain."

He didn't!

"And I was some sort of chemistry set!" I cried. "I'll kill you, Bastard!"

He chuckled and pushed my face away from his, holding my waist close to his as he let go of my hair. "That is the beauty of it! You won't be able to!"

"I'll find a way," I growled.

"Whatever injury I sustain, you will sustain the same. But remember this, Lin. My body is composed of many demons and healing…well…I've been through much worse than your puny claws can deliver. But! Your body bends at the simplest of flesh wounds."

I glowered from my disheveled hair but he pushed my head into his chest, raking filthy fingers through ever strand before he continued.

"You're body, though dripping with corruption, won't last long while I fight. Therefore, you will give me the tainted Jewel so I may become powerful enough to fend off any demon that wishes to get in my way."

"And if I still say no?"

"If I'm not powerful enough to defeat my foes, you will pay the price with your life and poor Ji and Acantha are left to me. And without my wife, what good are they to me?"

I heaved in every ounce of breath I could muster, but nothing would clear my head. He won! That damned bastard won!

"When?" I whispered to his arm.

"In good time." He opened the door without so much as touching it and we slowly made our way down the hallway. "But, for now, rest."

And with that, I passed out.

6


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

When I finally woke up, my head was throbbing against my skull like a drum and I still couldn't believe that I had conceded to Naraku's demand. I touched the wound along my chest and traced its raised edges as flashes of the past day played in my head. I realized almost instantly that I had abandoned my instincts. I had failed my mother and in going through with the ceremony, I had sold away my will and gave Naraku access to my heart when he threatened Ji. I succumbed to him. Not to mention, I had secured his survival if I were to keep Ji and my family out of harm's way.

My fingers traced the healing scabs. "I need a plan."

Yes, it was quite true that Naraku had caught me in a time where I had no idea what to do next. In fact, the only solace that could be achieved was Naraku's absence from the room. I couldn't possibly predict when he'd return, but at that moment I was grateful that he'd left me to my unconsciousness- the only place I could escape to nowadays.

But as I was fully awake, it was time to wrack my brain for a course of action. It did not need to be brilliant, but if the time allotted for Naraku's absence was running down, I had to come up with something quickly.

I finally sat up, analyzing each painful stretch, as I propped myself along the wall where the mat was placed. The room was scattered with the outlines of chains and manacles across every few measures of wall and through the dim light I could make out the ever gentle sweep of cobwebs along the ceiling's surface. I instantly realized I had been placed in Naraku's room, noting the large window to my right. I stared out into the miasma as it drifted in various wispy shapes while I was thinking deeply about my predicament. I knew I hadn't much of a strategy as of the moment, having experienced firsthand that I now held no power to destroy Naraku without sacrificing myself…yet sacrificing myself would not ensure Naraku's demise.

No matter how morbid the notion was, my mind would slip periodically to the option of suicide in hopes that I could find a way to use the newly formed bond between Naraku's blood and mine as a weapon. However, I could not convince myself that my dying would actually harm Naraku in anyway. Unlike the attacks thrown my way, what he could withstand would surely end my life…so I had no choice but to consider that perhaps he could withstand the damage of my sacrifice. If that were the case. If he could indeed survive an attempt on my life, then Ji would certainly be left in severe danger. That I could not allow.

I also was afraid to die.

It sounded odd to admit. Having died before, though quite on accident, I remembered being ripped from life. I remembered those feelings, feelings of damned things with gnarled fingertips clawing my skin when I tried to cling to life. What I had felt at death, knowing the peace of leaving, did not prepare me for losing my life. I was simply not ready to die…

If asked to remember my death, I could not tell you much. I simply don't remember anything beyond my body itself. I do not remember what it was to be dead…only dying. I remember the tearing from my life and I remember being acquainted with life a second time. But nothing more.

I resolved that death would not be an option unless certain, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that I could save Ji (above all else).

I sat for hours, unable to move or call forth a plan worth enacting, and decided to lie back down as I had exhausted myself with worry. I had just set my head along the pillow when the door to the room slowly moved aside and I heard footsteps at the entrance. I closed my eyes tight and pretended to be asleep while aware of the shadow cast over me and the heat of a body drawing nearer. I could not force my eyes to relax and instinctively I squeezed them tighter together, begging my curiosity to keep from getting the best of me.

A hand touched across my face gently. I was stricken with a streak of fear and my heart gave a jolt as my eyes sprung open. It took but moments to recognize the figure next to me as my hands flung up and encircled his frame.

"Oh, Ji!" I cried, lifting his little body up and close to my breast. He was a lot bigger than he had been, growing as quickly as children seem to do, but he was still my little boy. "My sweet, dear boy! I missed you so much!" I cried, tears staining my face and into his fine hair.

Through my tears I saw another figure at the door. Naraku stood there, no emotion reading on his face. He just watched me as I unashamedly hugged and kissed my son, caring not if he felt disgusted at my displays of affection. For hours I played and spoke to Ji, told him stories and let him curl up along my pillow in sleep as I rested beside him.

I woke up in the morning, still cradling Ji in my arms while silently heaving with joy that I was reunited with him. I was so thrilled that I did not register that we were not alone in the room. As I moved to adjust myself to sleep a bit longer, I realized I could not move my body forward as intended as I was being held across the waist.

"Naraku?" I whispered, assuming the arm around me belonged to him.

I turned my head slowly, as I was restrained, but before my eyes could see the face next to me, my cheek rested upon a patch of warm skin. By the sight of what I could make out, it was indeed Naraku who had somehow attached himself to my side in the night and was now so closely coupled with my body that I could not distinguish anything aside from his shoulder and a few strands of black hair.

He moved slightly, most likely because my hair had been lying over his face for a while and moved out from under it. He positioned the hand around my waist between my stomach and Ji while propping himself up on the other side as well. I was left looking up at his face in between both of his arms. His eyelids were heavy and he peered down at me silently with a relaxed look about his features. He made no other move and neither did I. He lifted a hand and held it with his fingers outstretched, hesitating in the air not an inch from my skin before touching my cheek softly at first before cupping the round of my face.

My mind went blank as I stared wide-eyed at his still motionless face, but his eyes were looking directly into my own. They looked sad. His fingers moved up to my hair line and remained there while his thumb moved across my brow. His touch was not welcome to me, but I did not feel frightened or threatened, but confused. Perhaps a little sad myself. Whatever the feeling or the cause, I intuitively lifted my hand slowly and slipped my fingers underneath his. Without taking my eyes from him, I gently removed his touch. He didn't resist it and let his hand fall away while we continued to look at one another.

We remained in this position for a few more moments before he twisted to one side and sat at the edge of the mat, his back to me. I mirrored his actions, placing a still sleeping Ji in my lap as I sat behind Naraku.

"Naraku?" I asked for a second time that morning.

"Ji cannot stay much longer," he spoke in a gruff voice, much less forceful than I was used to hearing.

"You will not touch him."

He looked at me and moved closely into my face and brought his lips to my hair line, pressing them softly at the very top of my forehead. "Very well."

"Why are you doing this?"

"What do you mean?"

"You've done nothing but taunt me and manipulate my every move, but now you…what are you aiming at?"

"First, I must request you place Ji in the bed along the wall," he pointed and I followed his indication towards a small basket shaped bed near the head of the mat. Knowing that Ji would remain in the room with me, I was not averse to letting him rest while I received more information. I set him down and kissed his cheek before setting myself down next to Naraku.

"Lin," he stated flatly. "Am I what you most despise?"

"Yes," I said honestly. "I have never felt so much sorrow, so much anguish and so many vile thoughts, than when I have been with you."

"Hmmm," he smirked and looked at me from the corner of his eye. "I could say the same…only….for you."

"Is that so?"

"Perhaps not in the same measure," he admitted with a frown. "But I can honestly say that you have indeed filled me with vile thoughts."

"I didn't intend to."

"You should be well acquainted with how little that matters. It does not absolve you."

"Well, what are these thoughts then? Why do they offend you so thoroughly?"

"I'm not yet aware how it was possible or how I came to harbor this fixation, but here we are. I'm confronted by it and I cannot begin to dissect the cause."

"Fixation?"

"I despise it, but I'd be ill without it."

"You speak in circles. You say nothing I haven't already heard. Perhaps you don't care to know the cause or the remedy," I said stiffly.

"I disagree."

"Be that as it may, you are frustrated with this fixation, yes? So, let it die. It's not good for anyone to obsess to this point."

"It's not so simple."

"Have you ever tried? Just accept it- as it does no good to you and consequently, neither does it do me any favors."

"I am consumed."

"With lust?" I offered unimpressed.

"Love."

I whipped my head around and spat out my response without thinking.

"You are mistaken."

"You are the love of my life," he spoke suddenly and look at me dead in the eyes.

"Liar!" I growled, losing my temper.

"It is regretfully the truth."

"But why say it? You know I will never love you. You are wasting your time and mine."

"It's okay, though," he started in a quiet tone. It was a bit meek and within me, some sympathy grew from his statement. "You don't have to love me."

My heart dropped a bit and I felt an impulse to reach out, to console him despite myself. But I shook off the urge. I forced myself to remember all the trouble he had caused in my life. All the death he had surrounded me with. And all that I loved was threatened. I would not show him an ounce of compassion. I simply could not allow him that leniency. I would not fall for this trap of civility.

I turned to him fully.

"Then let me go," I challenged. "I will not love you, Naraku. I could never and would never love you! Let me go because you will receive nothing from me but disdain!"

I started to get up to grab Ji, but Naraku grasped my arm roughly and jerked me to the ground. I looked up at him from under my hair and his inexpressive face moved and his sorrow-filled eyes were replaced with a deep anger.

"You do not have to love me," he repeated with a hiss. "But you cannot love someone else."

"That is beyond my control, Naraku! You should know that. Would you be in this predicament if you could control your heart?!"

He remained silent as I added bitterly, "But what heart have you?"

"You are bound to me," he warned.

"You'd rather keep me here hating you than let me leave? That is not love! Do you not see? That is jealousy, strictly obsessive behavior. It is not love. You try to create it, but you don't understand the first thing about love and you do not love me!"

"I'd rather have you here. I'd rather you die here never having loved me than find love with another. I could not stand that…."

"You could not stand my happiness!" I interjected into his thought. "Isn't that what you are saying? You wish me to rot and resent you and rebuff you time and time again instead of letting me be happy because you are a pathetic, selfish, vile man! You wouldn't know what to do if you could be happy!"

He grasped me across the shoulders and shoved me against the wall. Our argument had awoken Ji and he was screaming from my side, but I could not reach him. Naraku's eyes burned into mine and his nails sank deeper and deeper into my arms while he pressed me into the wooden boards. His breathing was strained and he shook with so much anger, he couldn't verbalize until he growled in rage to clear his throat.

"I've made my decision and so have you when you drank of the poison," he began with gritted teeth and moved in so close, I lost focus on his features.

"My choice was and never will be to give you my heart. You could pluck it out of my chest and it still would never beat for you!"

"You are fated to me and only me. If you do not wish to love me, that is your choice, but you will not love another. You will remain here in misery if you so choose to refuse my affection, but with that choice, you must also forfeit love of any kind. For if it is not for me…."

"What?!" I barked.

"I will kill you."

His words held no inflection. Murderous beyond any threat he had given me before. It was his ultimatum. He was not enjoying playing with my emotions. He had reached the end—he could not deal with me further than this…

I believed every syllable he spoke, but it did nothing to cap my anger.

"You would not dare," I said defiantly, but could not match the seriousness of his voice.

His eyes merely fixed on me and narrowed to slits.

"You had all the motive in the world to kill me and rid of my family, but you've insisted on manipulating us and keeping me safe. You would have nothing but lost time if you killed me. And what of the jewel?"

"Make no mistake, you are disposable, Lin. So, I give you this one rule to follow once the jewel has been tainted. This one guide you will follow in order to save yourself and Ji. You may live. You may be with your son. You may detest me for the rest of your days. But you may never leave and never love anyone if that one is not me."

"What is stopping me from killing myself before you get the chance? Better to leave by my own means than by yours!"

"I'll lock you away. I'll chain you up. I'll starve you to the brink of death only to bring you back before you find peace. I'll make you aware that every aspect of your life is under my control, your life and your death, are all up to my will. You will assist me with my plans…and you will remain here. But if you do not, if you so choose to plan your own death, I will make it so you cannot blink unless I directly order it of you."

"You detestable snake!"

"I have been generous, Lin. I've been extremely reasonable with our situation. I have given you the choice to be free from binds and with your child if you remain here and surrender your love. But all I receive is your threats of suicide, so I must remind you. You cannot leave or love another. Those are my conditions to keep you and your son out of danger."

I hung my head and began to laugh, a light airy and almost inaudible laugh.

"It's too late, Naraku. You know it's too late."

He pulled back so I could once again see his cruel mouth twist into a line of aggravation.

"I already love someone. He has my heart and he will never be you."

He smashed my back into the wall with a violent jerk and released me. I slid momentarily down the wall but caught myself despite how numb my legs felt.

"Then your days are numbered."

"They always were with you."

"After the jewel rests in my hand, fully blackened with hate, you and Ji will perish. Perhaps if it drinks of your blood, it will be all the more tarnished."

"You fucking bastard…leave Ji alone! Let my mother take him, I'm the one you need and I'm the one you despise. Your quarrel is with me!"

"You are better off dead than with him." But I knew he wasn't referring to Ji. "He could not love you, Lin. Not as I do."

"No." I stated listlessly. "You are incapable of love."

Naraku moved back swiftly and grasped my wrist, wrenching it forward. I pulled back, trying to get him to let go but that only resulted in his growing fury.

"You had the choice to save your son. You had the choice to save yourself," He finally raised my arm to its fullest extension and held fast. "You could have loved me as I love you, but look what you've done. You've forced me to kill you!"

I wasn't thinking about my words. He grew more and more irate with every reply from my mouth and all I wished to do was fuel his fury. I despised letting him have the last word and I knew it wasn't the wisest of paths, but I knew my own heart. Everything I wished to say poured from out of my lips in a flurry of emotion. He did not love me…because love was not about force. From what I knew of Naraku, he simply wanted someone to control.

"Then do it," I had no wish to be near him and knew he would not dare to kill me before the Jewel was wholly in his possession. "I'd rather be dead and away from you."


End file.
